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Just over half of UK consumers place any trust in their banks and building societies to when it comes to protecting details of their identity, according to a new survey by YouGov.

But this was still more trust than consumers had in central government – only 25% of respondents said they had faith in the state to protect their personal details. And not without good reason - it was revealed today that an employee of the Department of Family and Social Affairs routinely leaked identity information to his 'criminal brother'.

Consumers had even less faith in the mobile telephony providers, with fewer one respondent in ten saying they felt that their personal details were safe with such companies.   

Almost three quarters of respondents believe that is the responsibility of the organisations that hold their personal details to keep them safe from identity thieves.

Meanwhile, 45% said that they would give up internet banking and shopping in order to safeguard their identities.

"We have to ask ourselves why this is,” said Rob Laurence, of identity protections technology specialists GB, which sponsored the survey. “Information security has been high on the agenda for over 4 years now - why do consumers still feel businesses do not do enough to stop fraudsters from getting hold of their personal information?”

"Essentially, businesses need to tackle identity fraud with the same vigour as they are already doing with environmental issues,” he said. “If they don't, then it's highly likely that consumers will form pressure groups to get their voices heard.

Further reading

MPs call for fraud "tsar"

Setback for UK e-crime strategy

Inside job High profile data losses are forcing organisations to tackle culprits operating inside the firewall.

Find more stories in the Security and Continuity Briefing Room