Eight out of 10 Chinese feel that their rights to privacy are not well protected, and most people do not know how to respond if their privacy is invaded, a recent poll found.

The telephone poll was conducted by the Global Poll Center under the Global Times. Pollsters interviewed adults in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Changsha, Xi'an and Shenyang between September 25 and November 10.

Of the 1,153 respondents interviewed, only 13.8 percent felt their privacy was basically guaranteed. Nearly 36 percent said awareness of privacy protection in Chinese society is very weak, while 44.4 percent said society does not do enough to protect it.

Just under half (46.3 percent) said their privacy had been invaded in the past, and 52.7 percent said they had no such experience.

Of the people who said their privacy had been invaded, less than one fifth of them took the proper measures to respond, either by complaining by phone or mail (13.1 percent) or appealing through legal channels (5.8 percent). The remainder did not take any measures, and just felt angry (44.3 percent), had no idea what to do about it (42.8 percent), or did not care (22.5 percent).

The poll also found 80 percent of people were concerned that their personal information might be leaked or used for commercial purposes, but only 7.1 percent knew the legal meaning of privacy rights. More than sixty percent said they had some knowledge, while 30.4 percent had no idea.

Information leaks by banks, intermediary agencies and telecom carriers were considered the top three risks for privacy invasion, and were cited by half of the respondents in that order. Public service agencies, Internet and commodity transac-tion were also believed to pose a threat to privacy, each receiving more than 40 percent of votes.

Of the three measures that people believed were most invasive of their privacy - real-name registration on the Internet and when buying mobile phones, and surveillance cameras installed in public places - 66.2 showed most concern over the first one.

Respondents showed a cautious attitude to so-called human flesh search engines, which have drawn controversy over their threat to privacy. More than 35 percent said they should be regulated, while 34 percent argued they should be dealt with depending on the situation. Another 11.5 percent argued that it should not be interfered with. Only 6.1 percent called for them to be banned.

In terms of measures to protect citizens' privacy, "establishing a strict law," "strengthening legal supervision" and "enhancing government control" top the choices of respondents, with each receiving more than 30 percent of votes.