UPDATED 08:00 EDT / NOVEMBER 26 2014

Massive survey finds worries about online privacy are growing

locked-doors 2Privacy may be getting the buzz, but hackers are still what most preoccupies online adults, according to a survey of more than 23,000 people across 24 countries released on Monday. The comprehensive study offers one of the most detailed perspectives yet on how the world has come to perceive the value of the web relative to that of their personal data.

Nearly two-thirds of the participants in the Centre for International Governance Innovation-sponsored poll said they’re more worried about their privacy today than they were 12 months ago, with half of those saying they’re “much more” concerned. The worry rate in developing countries increased the most, according to the report. Users in Europe were the least concerned. The U.S. came in two percentage points below the global average at 62 percent.

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden appears to have played a dominant role in the bringing privacy to public spotlight; of the 60 percent of participants who said that they have heard about the former contractor, over a third have taken additional steps to protect their data as a direct result of his revelations. A similar pattern is visible in the broader respondent pool, where nearly 43 percent of all users avoid certain services they accessed last year and 39 percent said they now change their passwords regularly. That’s consistent with a recent report from EMC Corp. security subsidiary RSA that found just over 50 percent of online consumers are taking greater security precautions.

But although the other half of the online population puts itself at far greater risk of falling victim to hackers, few have misgivings about their online safety. Just 36 percent of the respondents to the Monday study said they believe their personal information is very secure, a figure that drops to 32 percent in the US and under 20 percent across Germany and France. Curiously, the two countries where confidence in data security is highest – Nigeria and India – also share the top spot on the list of nations where privacy concerns have grown the most over the last year.

Government snooping played a big part in fanning the flames, but it’s not entirely to blame for growing consumer anxiety over their personal data. Over three quarters of the respondents to the survey expressed concern over the prospect of criminals gaining access to their online bank accounts and sensitive information, financial or otherwise, while 72 percent said they worry about threats against government institutions in their countries.

It’s evident that consumers everywhere have grown much more conscious of the risks facing them online, but the survey found that this hasn’t turned people pessimistic about the future of the web. In fact, the opposite is true. Over 90 percent of the respondents said the Internet is important for their education while 83 percent expect it to play a key role in ensuring their freedom of speech and 81 percent predict the digital universe will have an impact on their economic outlook. If they had a choice, most users would have a diverse body of technology company, engineers and institutions govern that future.


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