Almost two-thirds of European citizens on average do not trust public bodies - including governments, local authorities and police - with the security of their data, according to research.

Digital marketing agency Reboot Online analysed data from the European Commission among around 28,000 EU citizens, and found that those in Spain (78 per cent) trust public authorities with their personal data the least.

In Ireland, 73 per cent of people do not trust the authorities with their data, and in Belgium, France and the UK the figure is 68 per cent.

The figures for Bulgaria (67 per cent), Luxembourg (66 per cent) and Greece (65 per cent) were also around the two-thirds mistrust mark. And Portugal, Malta, Italy and Croatia were all above the European average of 61 per cent across 19 EU countries measured by the European Commission.

Over half of people in Latvia, Romania, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia did not trust the authorities with their data.

The most trust is seen in Finland, with only 29 per cent of citizens there concerned about data security in the public sector, well ahead of Estonia on 40 per cent and second bottom in the “lack of trust stakes”.

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