Nearly two-thirds of Canadians don’t trust any organization to see or hold their personal data, and are particularly distrustful of advertisers, according to a new report from KPMG.

The Me, my Canadian life, my wallet study found that Canadians are among the most distrustful people in the world when it comes to their personal data, with 31% saying they are unwilling to share it for anything, compared to a global average of 24%.

Just 4% of Canadians said they would trust advertisers with their personal data, compared with 8% globally, while 63% indicated that they don’t trust behaviourally targeted advertising (compared with 42% globally).

Social media and browser history data are particular sore spots, with more than half of Canadians (54%) saying they don’t trust anyone with their search/browsing data, while 48% said they don’t trust anyone with their mobile data.

The reason, the study concludes, is because people don’t see the benefit of advertisers holding their data, believing that it’s being collected solely for the firm’s benefit.

“Consumers, especially Canadians, expect increased value in exchange for any data they share—we are no longer willing to just hand it over,” said Katie Bolla, associate principal, customer and digital services, KPMG Canada. “It is imperative that organizations really target the data that they ask for and provide consumers compelling, relevant and rewarding experiences in exchange.” – Chris Powell