The study, which had a nationally representative sample of 1,000 UK adults, looked at the relationship between consumer privacy and data.

It revealed that 62% of consumers worried about companies misusing their data, 28% worried about their TV eavesdropping on conversations at home, and 39% worried about their mobile phone publicly sharing their location.

However, many consumers said they were interested in receiving advertising messages based on their location data: 62% were interested in nearby special offers and 59% were interested in free giveaways.

41% of the consumers who would be prepared to sell their data felt that it was worth more than £500 a year.

“Marketers have become data hoarders,” said Claire Spencer, head of insight at IPG Mediabrands Marketing Sciences.

“From GPS to cookies, the volume and range of sources is growing exponentially. Subsequently, the evolving dialogue between brand and consumer is increasingly data-centric. But it’s vital we don’t lost sight of the people behind the numbers. Our study shows a worrying lack of faith in advertisers to manage consumer data responsibly.”

Privacy vs Relevancy: The Value Exchange is available to download here.