Australians are more concerned about identity theft and fraud than ever before, especially when using online services. But the good news for the financial services industry is that the level of trust in financial institutions has gone up.The Australian government's Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has updated a survey it last conducted in 2007. The survey and resulting report, Community Attitudes to Privacy, found that 69 per cent of people are concerned they may become victims of ID theft and fraud in the next year - a significant increase on the response six years ago, when 60 per cent said they were concerned about ID theft.The report, which was published yesterday, said: "Australians believe the biggest privacy risks facing them… [come from] online services, including social media sites. ID fraud and theft was the biggest risk, followed by data security and risks to financial data."The report said the backlash against unsolicited marketing activity was also gaining pace, with 56 per cent of people feeling annoyed by the contact. Thirty nine per cent said they were concerned about how their details were obtained by the organisations contacting them.In addition, 78 per cent of respondents said they were uncomfortable with having their activities monitored on the internet and then having marketing approaches made to them based on their online actions.A notable shift since 2007 is the level of trust people have in the way financial institutions handle their personal information. Trust in financial institutions has gone up from 58 per cent to 74 per cent. Trust in financial institutions is lower than trust in health organisations, however (which stands at 90 per cent), but higher than for government bodies (69 per cent) insurance companies (54 per cent), real estate agents (33 per cent) and social research companies (30 per cent).Most Australians (60 per cent) have decided, at some point, not to deal with a company because of privacy concerns. Half of Australians (49 per cent) are reluctant to give financial details to organisations. However, 34 per cent of people will provide personal information in return for improved service and 28 per cent will provide it for lower prices.The survey asked people about their understanding of credit reporting. Forty-eight per cent believe they can access their credit file but may have to pay to do so, 26 per cent believe their information is freely available, 17 per cent believe they cannot access their credit file and nine per cent said they had no knowledge of how the credit reporting system worked.Seventeen per cent said they had accessed their credit file, and 70 per cent said the information was correct. Fifty-seven per cent of those who found incorrect information were able to have their files corrected.