Private Lives? Putting the consumer at the heart of the debate has been produced by leading thinkers in the research and marketing sector, including Edwina Dunn, co-founder of dunnhumby and CEO of Starcount; Colin Strong, UK-based research and author of Humanizing Big Data; and Jane Frost, chief executive of the MRS and founder of the MRS Delphi Group.

The report reveals that just one in ten people in the UK feel in complete control over their personal information being kept private, and that the UK government is only marginally more trusted than the supermarkets with regard to looking after personal information. Banks are more trusted than charities in this regard.

Other findings were that 64% of consumers think companies get more or all of the benefit from the information we shared with them by consumers; and that teenagers safeguard their online privacy using social coding, intentionally vague Facebook statuses and false personal data.

“Personal information – be that data about an individual’s shopping habits, banking details or personal opinions – is at the heart of all consumer research,” said Frost. “As this report shows, this information in increasingly recognised as a tradable commodity but in order for consumers to maintain confidence that their data will be held and treated with respect, organisations need to more transparent and accountable about how they use and store our personal data.

“This is the reason why MRS launched its ethical data trust mark, Fair Data; to help organisations engage in a much more transparent ‘data dialogue’ with their customers and stakeholders.”

The demographically representative survey was carried out by YouGov on behalf of the MRS Delphi Group.