A new study from Incogni and NordVPN is providing insights about the growing fears of cybersecurity and online privacy in the US. It’s come to such an extent that users want to remove all personal data from the internet.
The rise in threats has 44% demanding immediate removal as they’re well aware of the process of data collection against consent and how that could harm them. The study was based on a survey taken from 1000 Americans who didn’t feel shy to speak their minds. It similarly shed light on what data people thought was sensitive.
As per key insights, nearly 44% of the entire US population wanted to get rid of data from the web. Out of these, it’s the millennial age bracket who was most worried about matters such as privacy.
Meanwhile, 64% of the replies feared the alarming rise in hackers and how they could get access to financial data and others like email, medical data, and social media accounts. Amongst the biggest proportion of US citizens, 37% wanted to see others’ criminal files if the data was not present online.
More than 1 in 3 respondents also felt some of their data was already leaked at some moment in time. It was the female population that was most concerned about privacy issues as more women than men expressed the desire to get rid of the data from the web and show concerns over many data points.
Meanwhile, the youth seemed more interested in finding out about others’ data as both Gen Z and Millenials led the study in all categories. Let’s break down the findings into more detail below.
The study proved that 44% of all Americans studied wanted to get rid of personal data online as compared to 30% of the older lot. But the question is why so many people were so worried about the matter to begin with.
Well, 48% shared how there were growing fears of their information being used by firms and third parties for matters through which those stakeholders could benefit. Meanwhile, those from the Gen Z bracket also expressed concerns related to a lack of trust and fears of hacking rising. Then some simply explained that there was no reason to keep their data available online.
This was especially true when it came down to financial data. Most people feared they would be scammed of their money due to the rise in online fraud. That does make sense as proven by recent studies shared by security experts who warn against rising phishing attempts. In that case, many wanted their material deleted as soon as possible.
A lot of those coming from Gen Z also feared having some embarrassing moments published online. Meanwhile, those of the older lot laughed at the fear and didn’t necessarily feel the urge to have the content removed for this particular reason.
Unflattering videos of embarrassing situations only was a concern for most females as compared to males. The stats showed that 40% of females were worried while only 26% had a similar concern.
Americans also spoke about getting hacked in the form of texts and emails and their financial information falling into the wrong hands. Others spoke about a lack of trust in the internet in terms of making their private health records available to all. Interestingly, it was older males who feared more about their privacy for health records than females.
The survey also asked respondents to shed light on which information they wanted to learn about others. The most popular reply with the masses was criminal records. 37% admitted wanting to have this information known beforehand so they can act carefully.
42% of all females wished to have a better knowledge of criminal history as compared to 32% of all males. When we analyzed the replies by age group, very interesting insights were available. However, they did not express the desire to learn about other data such as social media records and dating life details including their partners’ intimate past.
Read next: LLMs Might Be Getting Bigger But Users Will Have To Pay The Price Of Compromised Quality (According To A New Study)
The rise in threats has 44% demanding immediate removal as they’re well aware of the process of data collection against consent and how that could harm them. The study was based on a survey taken from 1000 Americans who didn’t feel shy to speak their minds. It similarly shed light on what data people thought was sensitive.
As per key insights, nearly 44% of the entire US population wanted to get rid of data from the web. Out of these, it’s the millennial age bracket who was most worried about matters such as privacy.
Meanwhile, 64% of the replies feared the alarming rise in hackers and how they could get access to financial data and others like email, medical data, and social media accounts. Amongst the biggest proportion of US citizens, 37% wanted to see others’ criminal files if the data was not present online.
More than 1 in 3 respondents also felt some of their data was already leaked at some moment in time. It was the female population that was most concerned about privacy issues as more women than men expressed the desire to get rid of the data from the web and show concerns over many data points.
Meanwhile, the youth seemed more interested in finding out about others’ data as both Gen Z and Millenials led the study in all categories. Let’s break down the findings into more detail below.
The study proved that 44% of all Americans studied wanted to get rid of personal data online as compared to 30% of the older lot. But the question is why so many people were so worried about the matter to begin with.
Well, 48% shared how there were growing fears of their information being used by firms and third parties for matters through which those stakeholders could benefit. Meanwhile, those from the Gen Z bracket also expressed concerns related to a lack of trust and fears of hacking rising. Then some simply explained that there was no reason to keep their data available online.
This was especially true when it came down to financial data. Most people feared they would be scammed of their money due to the rise in online fraud. That does make sense as proven by recent studies shared by security experts who warn against rising phishing attempts. In that case, many wanted their material deleted as soon as possible.
A lot of those coming from Gen Z also feared having some embarrassing moments published online. Meanwhile, those of the older lot laughed at the fear and didn’t necessarily feel the urge to have the content removed for this particular reason.
Unflattering videos of embarrassing situations only was a concern for most females as compared to males. The stats showed that 40% of females were worried while only 26% had a similar concern.
Americans also spoke about getting hacked in the form of texts and emails and their financial information falling into the wrong hands. Others spoke about a lack of trust in the internet in terms of making their private health records available to all. Interestingly, it was older males who feared more about their privacy for health records than females.
The survey also asked respondents to shed light on which information they wanted to learn about others. The most popular reply with the masses was criminal records. 37% admitted wanting to have this information known beforehand so they can act carefully.
42% of all females wished to have a better knowledge of criminal history as compared to 32% of all males. When we analyzed the replies by age group, very interesting insights were available. However, they did not express the desire to learn about other data such as social media records and dating life details including their partners’ intimate past.
Read next: LLMs Might Be Getting Bigger But Users Will Have To Pay The Price Of Compromised Quality (According To A New Study)
