87% of people say personal data compromised in public domain: Survey

A significant percentage of citizens believe that one or more of their personal data elements are already in the public domain or in databases that have been compromised, a survey said on Monday.

According to online platform LocalCircles, 87 per cent of citizens surveyed believe their personal data was leaked in the public domain.

The survey claims to have received over 36,000 responses from citizens located in 375 districts of India between August 25 to February 28. However, the number of responses on each question varied.

Most of the respondents have blamed telecom operators, e-commerce apps, banks and financial service providers, government departments etc for compromising their data in public domain. 

Of those Indians who believe their personal identification data has been leaked or in public domain, over half of them say it is either their Aadhaar or PAN card details or both that have been compromised.

"Citizens whose personal data has been leaked and in public domain hold various arms of the government, telcos, banks and eCommerce apps/sites responsible for it," the survey report said.

In response to a question on who the respondents believe may have leaked their data in public domain, 65 per cent held "telecom service providers" responsible, 63 per cent indicated "eCommerce apps and sites", 56 per cent blamed "banks and financial service providers".

Around 50 per cent respondents blamed "state/ local government offices, databases, staff", 48 per cent of respondents stated "payment apps or sites", 26 per cent said "educational institution", 37 per cent blamed "other businesses/ entities".