Highly-publicised data breaches by UK government have heightened awareness of data security issues among citizens but also decimated their trust in the ability of the public sector to safely handle data, according to two pieces of research published this week.

Only one UK citizen in ten trusts the government to safely handle their personal data according to a newly-published report from data encryption technology provider DES.

According to that survey, this mistrust has not spilled over to the private sector, with 74% of respondents reporting that they are happy to hand over personal details to third parties. But that was not the finding of another report published this week.

In a survey by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), 53% of respondents said they no longer had trust in the way banks – as well as local authorities and government departments – handle their data.

However, the survey also found that citizens are increasingly aware of data security dangers. Nearly 90% of respondents said that they check their bank balance more frequently than ever before.

Further reading

The ID dilemma Protecting customers’ online identities while preserving the convenience of online transactions is a major business challenge

The return of the ID card debate The UK government’s embarrassing loss of 25 million citizens’ personal details has reignited the ID card debate

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