GlobalWebIndex (GWI) has recently published an infographic highlighting the importance of online safety and privacy from the perspective of a consumer.
GWI’s research being directed towards consumers makes sense, considering that it’s an analytics firm that almost exclusively deals in interpreting consumer data for other companies to utilize. The company’s business model revolves around the presentation of audience insights and data to other marketers, businesses, and media agencies across the globe. At any rate, they’ve now decided to focus their interests solely towards providing consumer data to the consumers themselves, with this latest infographic detailing privacy behaviors that consumers adhere to and should adhere to when surfing online.
The infographic, detailed as it is, is essentially divided into three concise points of conversation. The first is privacy-conscious behaviors that different regions engage with. Five best practices were studied for this particular category: VPN usage, clearing browser history/cache, declining cookies, using an ad-blocker, and using private browsing. These were also arranged according to age groups that participated in said practices (gen Z, millennials, gen X, and boomers). Cleaning one’s browser history is the one act that at least fifty percent of the population engaged with, which doesn’t really speak all too well of what it is that these users are, um, researching. Boomers were found to most actively engage in clearing their browser history and cache, which also tracks since they’re the group that’s least likely to use private browsing as well. Ad-blocker usage, while low, is most commonly found across the gen Z and millennial age groups. VPN usage was incredibly low across the board, with India having the highest implementation of the technology at a measly 24% of the population.
The privacy paradox, our second point of conversation, is the idea that despite online privacy being a major issue that everyone agrees should be implemented more rigorously, not many such individuals are ready to give up their modern day conveniences for it. 39% of the population is completely fine with giving up some measure of personal data for free services, despite 35% of that same population worrying about how companies use its personal data. 30% of individuals state that they prefer remaining anonymous online, and that same 30% is yet still comfortable with apps tracking their activity. It’s a mess that has been brought upon by the endless commodification of technology, which has led to daily infringement on our privacy becoming commonplace.
Finally, if there’s one front that netizens are actively displaying best practices over, it’s the rejection of cookies as a whole. Ever since Google announced that it will be discontinuing the usage of third-party cookies, it hasn’t been a good time for the technology, and for those websites that actively utilize said tech for siphoning personal user data.
Read next: Old People Are Becoming More Tech Savvy, Pew Research Centre Reveals
GWI’s research being directed towards consumers makes sense, considering that it’s an analytics firm that almost exclusively deals in interpreting consumer data for other companies to utilize. The company’s business model revolves around the presentation of audience insights and data to other marketers, businesses, and media agencies across the globe. At any rate, they’ve now decided to focus their interests solely towards providing consumer data to the consumers themselves, with this latest infographic detailing privacy behaviors that consumers adhere to and should adhere to when surfing online.
The infographic, detailed as it is, is essentially divided into three concise points of conversation. The first is privacy-conscious behaviors that different regions engage with. Five best practices were studied for this particular category: VPN usage, clearing browser history/cache, declining cookies, using an ad-blocker, and using private browsing. These were also arranged according to age groups that participated in said practices (gen Z, millennials, gen X, and boomers). Cleaning one’s browser history is the one act that at least fifty percent of the population engaged with, which doesn’t really speak all too well of what it is that these users are, um, researching. Boomers were found to most actively engage in clearing their browser history and cache, which also tracks since they’re the group that’s least likely to use private browsing as well. Ad-blocker usage, while low, is most commonly found across the gen Z and millennial age groups. VPN usage was incredibly low across the board, with India having the highest implementation of the technology at a measly 24% of the population.
The privacy paradox, our second point of conversation, is the idea that despite online privacy being a major issue that everyone agrees should be implemented more rigorously, not many such individuals are ready to give up their modern day conveniences for it. 39% of the population is completely fine with giving up some measure of personal data for free services, despite 35% of that same population worrying about how companies use its personal data. 30% of individuals state that they prefer remaining anonymous online, and that same 30% is yet still comfortable with apps tracking their activity. It’s a mess that has been brought upon by the endless commodification of technology, which has led to daily infringement on our privacy becoming commonplace.
Finally, if there’s one front that netizens are actively displaying best practices over, it’s the rejection of cookies as a whole. Ever since Google announced that it will be discontinuing the usage of third-party cookies, it hasn’t been a good time for the technology, and for those websites that actively utilize said tech for siphoning personal user data.
Read next: Old People Are Becoming More Tech Savvy, Pew Research Centre Reveals