Privacy continues to be an important issue for Albertans. This is one of the conclusions from a survey commissioned by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Compared to a 2000 survey of access and privacy attitudes of Albertans, the new survey indicates there is a high level of attention paid to the privacy and confidentiality of personal health information, particularly the role of health custodians in keeping personal health information confidential.
Other important findings from the survey include:
- Respondents overwhelmingly agree that it is important to protect individual privacy in Alberta (98% agree), an increase of 10% from the 2000 benchmark survey.
- Nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents are concerned that the privacy of personal information is at risk in Alberta, a significant increase from the 56% recorded in the 2000 survey.
- Eighty-two per cent of respondents are concerned about the privacy of their own personal information, an increase of 11% from the 2000 survey.
The survey was conducted from March 15 to 28 with 1,004 Albertans. Six hundred respondents were drawn from urban Alberta, with 404 respondents from rural Alberta. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.