Despite years of headlines about spies prying into Kiwis' private lives, people are more concerned about companies knowing their online habits than the Government.
According to the latest World Internet Project report, 45 percent of Kiwis are concerned about companies tracking their activities, compared to 33 percent who rate the Government a threat.
"One possible explanation is the news coverage about the sort of information companies are able to access as a result of people agreeing to use their apps, social networking sites or websites," says Word Internet Project executive director Philippa Smith.
"People may also be getting a sense of that intrusion on their online privacy when they suddenly get an email or a pop-up on their browser, selling them something which is close to what they might have been searching or reading about on the internet."
Despite 41 percent saying they're resigned to having no privacy online, slightly more than two-thirds of internet users still at least try to cover their tracks. Almost three-quarters have updated their internet security software in the past year.
"Responses that there is no privacy online do not correlate to the findings that the vast majority indicate they actively protect their privacy online, and feel they can control their online privacy," says Assoc Prof Gehan Gunasekera of Auckland University.
"These findings indicate people have mixed feelings about online privacy and do in fact care about it very much, which has been confirmed in other New Zealand research."
InternetNZ chief executive Jordan Carter says the survey reveals nearly a third of people may need further education about the importance of online privacy.
"This is a key focus area for InternetNZ and something we are working hard on to improve."
The report found that 91 percent of Kiwis currently use the internet. People who don't use the internet are older and poorer than those that do.
Recognition that the digital divides still exists was an important part of the findings.
"Access, connectivity, ability, cost, and just keeping pace with the many new devices have created new divides among various social groupings, which need to be tracked, understood, and addressed," says head of the Department of Communication Studies at the Unitec Institute of Technology Dr Jocelyn Williams
"This under-recognised issue needs a whole other research response."
This is the first World Internet Project survey which has asked questions about online privacy.
The survey is part of an international collaborative project undertaken in 39 countries.
Almost all -- 95 percent -- use the internet for general browsing, with four in five doing it every day.
Nine in 10 get their news online, while 55 percent pay taxes, fines and licences.
Other key findings include:
Though New Zealand has a high percentage of internet users by world standards, the digital divide remains.
About 62,000 households didn't have internet access at the time of the 2013 census, this latest report showing the gap is still driven by age and income.
"This digital inequality is unevenly spread geographically, with greater numbers of households in Auckland affected, and it has a relationship with the income inequality," says Dr Jocelyn Williams, head of the Department of Communication Studies at Unitec.
"As household income rises there is a small but perceptible increase in the average internet usage. Higher income groups also own more devices."
But as the internet becomes a bigger part of our daily lives, those without are getting left further and further behind.
"Access, connectivity, ability, cost, and just keeping pace with the many new devices have created new divides among various social groupings, which need to be tracked, understood, and addressed," says Dr Williams.
Nearly 1400 people were questioned in the research, conducted between September and November 2015.
Newshub.
