It’s safe to say that many people don’t fully understand what it means to offer up their personal information on the internet. Whether it’s for joining a social media site or accepting terms and conditions for online memberships and purchases, personal data collection is a common requirement for online services. Most of us allow it all the time.
In truth, certain websites are free to use because the data you volunteer (contact info or browsing data, for example) is being collected and sold. You’ll often see more targeted ads or even promotional emails after using these sites. It’s sometimes harmless enough, but it can also lead to data breaches that put you and your files at risk. It’s essential to understand how data collection works and know what you’re really agreeing to share online. But how many people have confidence in what they’re signing up for regarding their personal data?
A new study from Unsupervised aims to answer that question. The survey of 1,012 internet users was eye-opening: Respondents reported that on a scale of one to five (from “not at all” to “extremely”), their confidence in how much they know about what companies do with their personal data was only at 2.8. The result wasn’t much better when asked about their knowledge of which companies collect and sell their data, as the average score was 2.9. And while more than one-quarter said they had no confidence in their understanding of personal data use, 45% believed that their knowledge was somewhat or much greater than that of the average person.
Regarding terms and conditions, it’s easy to assume that most people hit “accept” without reading them in full, and that assumption would be correct. According to the internet users surveyed, 39% said they did this most of the time, while 17% said they always did, and only 5% said they never accept terms and conditions without reading them first.
All of this begs the question: How willing are we to give away our personal data in exchange for a free service? The sheer number of people using social media could be our answer. Still, as other websites and online services become more data-oriented to remain free of charge, this question has made its way to the forefront of the data collection discussion. In this survey, most respondents (65%) said they were either moderately, very or extremely willing to hand over their personal information as payment for a service. In comparison, just 15% said they weren’t willing to do the same.
The trust we have on the internet, despite the various security and data risks required to use it, reflects the times we live in. If we don’t sign away the right to sell our data, we won’t have access to the same services the rest of society uses daily, leaving us behind. But it also causes one to wonder how much people know about how companies use their personal data – and how much they want to know.
