Fieldwork is underway for the Digital Trust Survey 2026, delivered with DINZ research partner Yabble.
The survey will provide an important evidence base on how New Zealanders feel about digital identity, trust and control of their personal information. These insights matter because adoption depends on more than technical capability.
People need to understand, trust and feel agency within the systems they are being asked to use.
For organisations working in digital identity, trusted credentials, public services, financial services, health, education, workforce mobility or digital trade, this evidence base will be valuable. It will help leaders understand where confidence is strong, where concern remains and what people expect from organisations handling identity and trust.
Digital identity is becoming foundational national infrastructure. Done well, it enables people to access services more easily and securely, reduces fraud and identity misuse, and supports privacy-enhancing verification.
Done poorly, it can undermine confidence, increase risk and create new barriers.
That is why public trust must be measured, understood and designed for. Trust cannot be assumed, and it cannot be retrofitted after harm occurs. It needs to be earned through clear governance, legal alignment, transparency, privacy-enhancing design and meaningful individual agency.
The Digital Trust Survey 2026 will help the DINZ community understand how New Zealanders are thinking about these issues now.
The results will be embargoed until their exclusive release at Digital Trust Hui Taumata on 11 August. Delegates in the room at Te Papa will see them first.
For organisations planning digital identity, trusted credential or digital trust initiatives, the survey will provide valuable signals for 2027 planning and beyond.
It will also support a more informed national conversation about the future of digital identity in Aotearoa: what people trust, what they question and what needs to be in place for adoption to proceed safely and confidently.
As DINZ continues to convene stakeholders across industry, government and communities, this evidence will help ground the conversation in real public attitudes — not assumptions.
Join us at Digital Trust Hui Taumata, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, 11 August 2026, for the exclusive release of the Digital Trust Survey 2026 results.