Consumers are interested in the benefits of cloud computing, but are worried about the privacy of their personal information, according to a research report from Fujitsu released 27 October.
The report, "Personal Data in the Cloud: A Global Research of Consumer Attitudes," found data privacy was a global concern, with 88% of consumers worried about who has access to their data.
"When it comes to data privacy, organisations must think globally but act locally," said Lynn Willenbring, Fujitsu America's senior vice-president of business strategy and global lead of the Business Services group, in a statement.
Presented at the Fujitsu Global Analyst Conference, the study found that 91% of the respondents wanted a system that lets them control how their personal data is used by weighing the risks on a per-application basis. However, most of them were not doing anything currently to protect themselves, according to the study.
Overall, respondents favoured applications that clearly benefited them, such as traffic management systems that aggregated car movements and distributed the information so drivers knew which congested areas to avoid, or turning off lights to save electricity if there was no traffic, according to the study. Centralised medical data was a bit more contentious, with 40% of surveyed consumers saying the benefits outweighed the risks, 21% considered it too risky, and 39% couldn't decide.
"Fears about data privacy are substantial, but many of us are willing to offset them against what we think we will gain," the researchers wrote.
More than 80% of consumers polled expected their governments to legislate and regulate access to data, according to the study. They also expected the government to impose penalties on companies that didn't use the data responsibly, according the survey. Despite those expectations, only 20% were confident the government would look after their data, researchers said.
"For the full economic and social potential of the global cloud to be realised, governments and businesses must start by understanding the specific needs of their citizens and customers," said Willenbring.
Fujitsu researchers polled 3 000 people in six countries using online bulletin boards, focus groups, and quantitative research, Fujitsu said. Participants were screened to ensure a wide range of age, gender, and level of technology usage, the company said. Participating countries included Australia, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the US.
Data privacy expectations varied between countries. The study found 90% of US consumers, want to be asked for permission before their data is shared, but the number dropped to 77% among Japanese consumers, according to the report. On the flip side, 72% of German consumers expect the government to stay out of their personal data, but only 46% of US consumers do.
Initiatives that ultimately would benefit Big Business, such as personalised shopping recommendations, and Big Brother, such as the government maintaining a database of biometric data on its citizens, were negatively viewed by the respondents. About 36% of Singapore consumers said he benefits of a personalised shopping experience outweighed the risks and only 17% of UK consumers felt that way, according to the results.
Consumers want control and the ability to decide who gets their data and where it's stored, wrote the researchers. How they decide, and the extent to which they are willing to share varied with age, gender and country, according to the report.
Many of the surveyed consumers were not concerned about social network sites or shopping history because the data was not "particularly personal," but information like medical records should not be stored overseas, said the study.
"Some data is global, but we want certain information to be held locally," said the researchers in the report.
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