To Use or Not to Use: Apps and Privacy
Editor's Note:
We were notified of a fraud alert yesterday stemming from unauthorized credit card usage. This is becoming more frequent and we await a report that identifies the source (store? online access, what?). But in the meantime, it's clear that the public is becoming more wary about the 'behaviors' we engage in that might leave us open to a privacy invasion.
More than half of app users have uninstalled or decided to not install an app due to concerns about personal information
Many cell phone users take steps to manage, control, or protect the personal data on their mobile devices. In a new study by the Pew Internet Project of how cell phone users manage their mobile data, we asked about five specific behaviors in which cell phone owners might engage. Two of these activities were asked of the 43% of cell owners who download cell phone applications. Among this group, representing 38% of the adult population, we found that:
- 54% of app users have decided to not install a cell phone app when they discovered how much personal information they would need to share in order to use it
- 30% of app users have uninstalled an app that was already on their cell phone because they learned it was collecting personal information that they didn’t wish to share
Taken together, 57% of all app users have either uninstalled an app over concerns about having to share their personal information, or declined to install an app in the first place for similar reasons.
Outside of some modest demographic differences, app users of all stripes are equally engaged in these aspects of personal information management. Owners of both Android and iPhone devices are also equally likely to delete (or avoid entirely) cell phone apps due to concerns over their personal information.
Cell phone owners take a number of steps to protect access to their personal information and mobile data
In addition to these measures of app-specific behaviors, we also asked about three general activities related to personal data management on cell phones. These questions were asked of the 88% of the adult population that owns a cell phone of any kind. Among this group, we found that:
- 41% of cell owners back up the photos, contacts, and other files on their phone so they have a copy in case their phone is ever broken or lost
- 32% of cell owners have cleared the browsing history or search history on their phone
- 19% of cell owners have turned off the location tracking feature on their cell phone because they were concerned that other individuals or companies could access that information
Nearly one third of cell owners have experienced a lost or stolen phone, and 12% have had another person access the contents of their phone in a way that made them feel their privacy was invaded
Illustration: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. via Wikipedia
Pages: 1 · 2
