The State of Online Privacy [Infographic]

June 9, 2016

Concerns about online security have reached a tipping point in 2016. This has prompted consumers to demand for greater protection and privacy and regulators to become more vigilant and crack down on rogue companies.

According to Pew Research, most internet users would like to be anonymous at least once in a while. And stats from Go-Globe show that 64% of internet users have some degree of privacy concerns when browsing the internet. Moreover, 3 out of 4 people who send emails are concerned that the email may be read by other someone other than the intended party. Another study by constancy says more than 30% of internet users are frequently concerned about their online safety.

Infographic source

Consequently, most internet users (86%) have taken drastic steps to hide their online identity by encrypting their emails, clearing cookies or using fake names and email addresses. A good number of internet users believe that there are no adequate laws to guarantee their safety online. In fact, some have even gone as far as using fake IPs when accessing the internet. However, 59% of internet users still believe it is not possible for one to completely hide their identity online. Only 37% believe it is possible to become completely anonymous.

So what exactly is bothering people?

You might be wondering, why are people making a big deal out of online privacy and security? Well, internet users have legitimate reasons to be worried about their online privacy and security. According to CNBC, 60% of internet users say security is their main concern. The main cause of concern is the fact that companies collect and share consumer personal information with other companies for marketing purposes. 91% of online users believe it is not fair for companies to share their personal information without their consent or knowledge.

Online users also don’t like it when companies use their personal information to track their online behavior in order to deliver targeted ads. Perhaps this is the reason why most internet users (60%) have given false personal information as a way of hiding their true identity.

More than half of internet users are worried that key personal information available online is a major source of concern. Pieces of information such as pictures, address, phone number email addresses. Date of birth and their current locations can be used by fraudsters and criminals to harm them. Unfortunately, these pieces of information can readily be available on social media such as Facebook. So online users would prefer to have total control on who can view their personal information.

There is one prominent issue online users should address in order to protect their online safety. Nowadays, people tend to overshare. When you are sharing everything that you are doing, it becomes easy for criminals and cons to study your pattern and habits. For instance, one can easily tell where you stay based on the picture of the house you share on Facebook. Further, interior stuff makes it easy for someone to know what kind of things you own and how the interior of the house is partitioned. That is why you must limit the amount of information you share online.

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