Norway’s population has a low level of trust in public and private sector data security

“Digitalisation is progressing rapidly. There is some risk that data is not being sufficiently well stored and that solutions are not being tested well enough from a data privacy perspective prior to their launch. More people should therefore be asking how their data is used and shared”, comments Sigrun Hansen Bock, Vice President, Cyber Security Services, at TietoEVRY. She is of the view that we as consumers need to be more active in using our influence to shape developments.

According to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, the average Norwegian has provided enough personal data to fill 800 sheets of A4 paper. As consumers, we simply have no oversight over everything that is stored about us digitally.

2020 has seen an increasing number of hacker attacks, which clearly shows that the threat situation is serious. TietoEVRY has taken the temperature of the Norwegian population’s perception of data security, and made some surprising findings:

• One in three Norwegians are sceptical about whether the public sector takes good care of their data. 35% do not feel very certain, are not at all certain or do not know whether municipalities and other public sector bodies manage their personal data in a secure manner.
• More than half the population is sceptical about the way in which private companies store their data. 56% do not feel very certain, are not at all certain or do not know whether companies take good care of their personal data.
• Norwegians are very divided in their views on whether sharing one’s personal data with the public sector is a good idea. 31% are negative about doing so, 21% are positive, 36% are indifferent, and 12% do not know.

The survey was carried out by Kantar and attracted more than 1,000 respondents from across Norway.

An important requirement for high-quality security work is having a proper framework and/or governance system for information security. According to the Norwegian Business and Industry Security Council’s 2020 Norwegian Computer and Data Breach Survey, seven in ten businesses now have such a framework in place, up from six in ten in 2018.

“Businesses and public sector organisations need to be more open about what data they hold and how it is used. There is a great deal of uncertainty around when and how I as a consumer will be informed if my data has been hacked. In addition, it is difficult for private individuals to find out how to have their data deleted”, comments Sigrun Hansen Bock.

Public sector organisations and businesses need to build trust around how they use individuals’ data. It is absolutely crucial for us as a society to be able to continue with the process of digitalisation both because it simplifies most people’s day-to-day lives and because digital solutions help us as a society to become more competitive.

Contact persons:

Sigrun Hansen Bock, Vice President, Cyber Security Services, TietoEVRY Norway, +47 95124056

Geir Remman, Communications Lead, TietoEVRY Norway, +47 97055017