Following the launch of the 2013 Community Attitudes to Privacy survey results, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has published the de-identified data on the government data portal. In addition to the data from the 2013 survey, the OAIC has also made the 2007 data available. 
The 2013 Community Attitudes to Privacy study measures Australians’ changing awareness and opinions about privacy, as well as their expectations in relation to the handling of their personal information. The study also seeks views on a range of privacy issues, such as online privacy, social media and mobile apps, credit reporting and privacy in the workplace. The study was last undertaken in 2007.
Data for this study were collected through Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) (using mobile and fixed line) between 13 June and 10 July 2013. In total 1,000 interviews were completed with Australians aged over 18 years of age. Quotas were set for age, gender and region to ensure a representative response, as well as ensuring a robust sample. The data were weighted to represent the Australian community. However, due to the use of quotas, the effect of the weighting was minimal. Results were analysed against demographic splits, as well as against longitudinal data from 2007, 2004 and 2001. The full report provides considerable analysis as well as detailed information on methodology.
With the massive growth in the technology industry, privacy issues are constantly changing and adapting. ‘Big data’ as we now know it did not exist at the time of the last Community Attitudes to Privacy survey in 2007. Smartphones and social media were still gaining traction, and we are only just coming to understand how they influence the way we interact and communicate as a community.
From March next year, the OAIC will be regulating the handling of personal information through a significantly amended Privacy Act, which constitutes the biggest change to privacy legislation in over 20 years. In implementing these changes, the OAIC will be engaging with the public and private sectors and the community about the interpretation and enforcement of the amended Privacy Act.
Technology and privacy law reforms are just two areas that interest us and the survey results are very helpful in this regard. However, we’re also interested in seeing how others are able to use the survey data, identify other patterns and extract further analysis. Information held by the Australian Government is a national resource, and is to be made available for public access and use. In that spirit, the OAIC has published this raw data to ensure it is open and accessible. There is a wealth of information contained in this research and there is great value in opening this data up to others to see the different ways it can be used.
