Only one third of Europeans are aware of the existence of a national public authority responsible for protecting their rights in relation to their personal data (33%). The general analysis and the socio-demographic analysis are based on the EU27 results, i.e. the average of the results for the 27 member states.
I NTRODUCTION
D ISCLOSING PERSONAL INFORMATION
Information considered as personal
- Financial information
- Medical information
- National identity number, identity card number or passport number
Internet users who shop online are more likely to treat financial information than personal information. Also of interest is the fact that Internet users who use social networking sites or file-sharing sites are less likely to treat photos as personal information.
Perception of the necessity of disclosing personal information
- Disclosing personal information is an increasing part of modern life
- The government asks for more and more personal information
- There is no alternative than to disclose personal information if one
- Disclosing personal information is not a big issue
- Disclosing personal information in return for free services online, such
- Feeling obliged to disclose personal information on the Internet
More than six out of ten respondents (63%) say that the disclosure of personal data is a big problem for them. Only a third of respondents (33%) say that the disclosure of personal data is not a big problem for them.
A CTUAL DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Type of personal information disclosed on the Internet: social networking
A general pattern emerges from the socio-demographic analysis of the types of personal information disclosed on social networks or sharing sites. Names are announced by more users of social networks or sharing sites with a secondary education level (79%).
Reasons for disclosure: social networking or sharing sites versus online
A country-by-country analysis of the reasons for disclosing personal information on social networking or sharing sites shows that access to the service is the most important reason in 21 Member States, most frequently mentioned in Sweden (79%), Cyprus (76%) and Ireland (75%). Nevertheless, younger users of social networking and sharing sites (15-24) are more likely than older users to say they disclose information to connect with others (57%) and for fun (26%).
Over-disclosure
- Incidence of over-disclosure
- Concern about over-disclosure
Half of internet users who share photos, videos or movies (50%) have to disclose more personal information than necessary, compared to only 37% of other users. A vast majority of internet users exposed to too much disclosure are concerned. Those interviewees who had always or sometimes experienced unnecessary disclosure of personal information when accessing or using an online service were then asked how concerned they were about such instances9.
A TTITUDES TOWARD DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Perceived risk factors associated with disclosure
In contrast, only 31% and 35% of users of social networks or sharing sites give this answer in Portugal and in the UK. It was also the risk most often identified in France by users of social networks or sharing sites.
Concern about the recording of behaviour
- Payment cards: location and spending
- Mobile phone or mobile Internet: call content and geolocation
- Internet: browsing, downloading files, accessing content online
- Private space: restaurants, bars, clubs, or offices
- Store or loyalty cards: preferences, consumption and patterns
- Public space: streets, subways, airports
More than half of those surveyed are concerned that their behavior is being tracked via payment cards. A majority of Europeans interviewed (54%) are not concerned about their behavior being recorded in private spaces such as restaurants, bars, clubs and offices. A majority of Europeans are not concerned about behavior being recorded via store or loyalty cards (48%).
Attitudes towards profiling on Internet
Users of social networks and sharing sites are much more comfortable with profiling on the Internet. 47% of users of sharing sites feel comfortable (versus 48% who don't), while 58% of internet users who don't use these sites feel uncomfortable. Conversely, buying online does not affect results: 60% of online shoppers are uncomfortable with internet profiling.
I NTERNET USE
How often and where?
Only small minorities seem to use the Internet in places other than home or work: on an (almost) daily basis (5%), one to three times a week (7%) or no more than three times a month (10%). In general, northern and western European countries register a higher rate of Internet use than those located in the south and east. Students, managers and other white-collar workers use the Internet most often, as do interviewees who place themselves high on the social scale, respondents without financial problems and people who live in larger rather than smaller households.
Shopping, social networking, and sharing sites
- Shopping online
- Social networking sites
Internet users who have trouble paying their bills most of the time are most likely to visit social networking sites (62%) and sites for sharing photos, movies, etc. (50%). Internet users from the north and west of the European Union are more likely to shop online–. A majority of internet users in mainly eastern and southern EU member states use websites to share photos, videos and movies: Bulgaria, Lithuania (both 59%), Cyprus, Slovakia and Ireland (both 58%), Romania, Latvia (both 56%), Greece, Hungary and Spain (all 53%), compared to about a third of those in Germany (32%) and Finland (35%).
Specific activities on the Internet
As for online shopping, home banking appears to be more developed in the north and west of the European Union than in the south and east. Buying goods or services from a seller located within the respondents' country of residence is the most frequent activity within four Member States: the United Kingdom (64%), Germany (61%), the Czech Republic (56%) and Ireland (50%). However, the younger age groups are diametrically opposed when it comes to financial activities, with the youngest 15-24 age group recording the lowest percentages and the 25-39 age group the highest for home banking (31% vs. 54%) and shopping from a retailer within the country of residence (38% vs. 50%).
S UMMARY
More than one third are concerned about their behavior being recorded in a public space (such as a street, subway or airport). More than half of the Europeans surveyed feel uncomfortable with profiling on the Internet, while around four in ten feel comfortable with it. In all but seven of the EU member states, namely Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Finland and the.
I DENTITY MANAGEMENT
Type of personal credentials used
In general, respondents from the north and west of the European Union use credit and bank cards more often than respondents from the eastern member states. Respondents living in countries in the east of the European Union are more likely to use national identity cards than those living in the north and west. Online shoppers and users of social networks and sharing sites are logically much more likely to use an online account than others.
Identity protection in daily life
The socio-demographic breakdown reveals large differences between the groups regarding all identity protection strategies in everyday life. For example, 66% of online shoppers do not disclose their usernames and passwords, compared to 50% of non-online shoppers. Again, 70% of online shoppers do not reveal their bank details or PIN numbers, compared to only 55% of other internet users.
Identity protection on the Internet
Half of respondents who use the Internet in the Netherlands and Luxembourg (both 53%) delete cookies, compared to only 10% in Romania, 12% in Bulgaria and 17% in Hungary. Using a search engine to maintain awareness of what information about them is circulating on the Internet was most commonly reported by Internet users in Estonia (24%) and least in Romania (8%); using a dummy email account most in Austria (25%) and least in Malta, Denmark and the Czech Republic (all 6%); asking websites to access the information these websites have about them in order to update or delete it most in Cyprus (15%) and least in Slovenia, Romania and Poland (all 4%). Use a search engine to stay aware of what information about you is circulating on the Internet.
A WARENESS OF POSSIBLE ACCESSIBILITY OF PERSONAL DATA BY THIRD PARTIES
- Reading privacy statements on Internet
- Adapting behaviour after reading privacy statements on the Internet
- Reasons for not reading privacy statements on the Internet
- Incidence of informed consent when joining a social network site or
- Satisfaction with information provided by social network sites about the
Interviewees who ignore privacy statements on the Internet are most often found in Lithuania (14%) and Luxembourg (13%), while those who do not know where to find the privacy statements are mostly found in Estonia (10%), Lithuania (9%) and Finland (8%). Seven out of ten respondents who read privacy statements on the Internet adjusted their behavior. It is interesting to see if reading privacy statements affects actual behavior on the Internet.
P ERCEIVED CONTROL OVER PERSONAL DATA
Perceived control over information disclosed on social network sites
Furthermore, the largest proportion of respondents who feel in full control are recorded in Cyprus (52%) and Malta (45%). Portugal has the highest proportion of respondents who feel partially in control (64%), followed by Austria (62%), Finland (61%) and Poland (60%). The countries with the highest proportion of interviewees who feel they have no control at all are Germany, France (both 29%), Latvia and Romania (both 27%).
Perceived control over information disclosed when shopping online
The majority of respondents who disclosed personal data when shopping online believe that they have control over this information in each Member State. Note: Results for countries with a small number of respondents who disclosed personal information when shopping online (less than 150) should be interpreted with caution. A socio-demographic breakdown shows that respondents in the 15-24 age group (23%) and students and homemakers (22% each) are the most likely to believe they have full control over the personal information disclosed when shopping online.
I DENTITY THEFT AND DATA LOSS
Experiences of issues related to data losses or identity theft affecting an acquaintance are most common in Sweden (14%) and Greece (12%); those affecting a family member in the UK (7%) and Ireland (6%); and those affecting respondents themselves in the UK and Sweden (both 5%). 50%), the least educated who left school at the age of 15 or younger (54%), retired persons (52%) and those who never use the Internet (53%) are the most likely not to have heard of or experienced problems related to data losses and identity theft in the past 12 months. Hearing through television, radio, newspapers and the Internet is by far the most likely among those educated to the age of 20 or older (52%), managers (54%) and people who use the Internet every day (49%); word of mouth is most common among the youngest respondents (those aged 15-24), students and managers (all three 17%).
S UMMARY
A majority of respondents who have disclosed personal information when shopping online feel under control; less than a fifth feel fully in control, half feel partially in control, while three in ten feel not at all in control. In conclusion, a significant proportion of Europeans seem to need information on personal data. First, identity protection in everyday life and online will be addressed, followed by a discussion of interviewees' expectations of organizations that hold personal data: their trust in such organizations, their concern about further uses of personal data, whether they would like to be able to give or refuse consent to the use of this data, and whether they would like to be informed of any loss of personal data.
E XPECTATIONS OF ORGANIZATIONS HOLDING PERSONAL DATA
- Trust in institutions and companies
- Concern about the further uses of personal data than the ones it was
- Perceptions on individual's consent for the processing of their personal
- Information to individuals about personal data loss or theft
Only about one in ten say yes, in the case of personal information collected on the Internet (12%), or yes, in the case of sensitive information (health religion, political beliefs or sexual preferences - 8%). 28 QB24 If your specific approval is required before any type of personal information is collected and processed. A country-by-country analysis shows that almost all respondents in Malta, Denmark (both 97%), Slovenia (96%) and Sweden (95%) want to be informed in the event of loss of personal data.
R ESPONDENTS ’ ACCESS TO THEIR PERSONAL DATA HELD BY OTHERS
- Willingness to pay for access to personal data held by organisations
- Reasons for deleting personal data
- Incidence of changing privacy settings on social networking sites
- Ease of changing privacy settings on social network sites
- Reasons for not changing privacy settings on social network sites
Users of social networks or sharing sites (both 75%) are more likely to think portability of personal data is important than those not involved in these activities (both 67%). Base: users of social networks or sharing sites who tried to change their privacy settings (20% of the total sample). Base: users of social networks or sharing sites who tried to change their privacy settings (20% of the total sample).
S UMMARY
Just over half of Europeans who use social networking or sharing sites have tried to change the privacy settings from the default settings in their personal profile on a social networking site and/or sharing site. More than eight out of ten of those who tried it found it easy to change their personal profile privacy settings. Almost one in three trusts a website to set appropriate privacy settings; about one in five didn't know they could change their settings, weren't concerned about having personal information on social networks or sharing sites, or didn't know how to go about changing those settings.
K NOWLEDGE OF THE NATIONAL D ATA P ROTECTION A UTHORITY
The chapter will then discuss some specific remedies: the special protection of genetic information, the protection and warning of children, and police access to personal data. The countries with the largest proportions of respondents who are aware of a public authority responsible for protecting their rights in relation to their personal data are Hungary (51%), which is the only country where a majority has heard of this public authority, Slovenia (48%), and Greece (46%). A socio-demographic breakdown shows that respondents who are aware of a national public authority responsible for protecting their rights regarding their personal data are more likely to be those who have studied until the age of 20 or older (46%), self-employed respondents (40%), managers (54%), other white-collar workers (39%), those who use themselves on the Internet every day (41%), and the respondents who place themselves socially at 4% (41%).
G ENERAL REGULATION
- Responsibility for safe handling of personal data
- On social networking and/or sharing sites
- On shopping sites
- Importance of harmonised protection rights across EU
- Desired administrative level for the enforcement of rules
- Perceived effectiveness of Data Protection Officers in companies
- Sanctions for breaches of data protection rights
40 QB37 In your opinion, the enforcement of the rules on personal data protection should be handled by …. QB37 In your opinion, the enforcement of the rules on personal data protection should be handled by …. Imposing a fine on companies that use people's data without their knowledge should be the first priority of the public authorities.
R ULES ON SPECIFIC CATEGORIES OF PERSONAL DATA
Special protection of genetic information
Protecting and warning minors
Police access to personal data
S UMMARY …
