Fewer Swedes Worried about Privacy
A Survey done by F-Secure Finds That More Americans Are Taking Action in Response to Privacy Concerns in Comparison to Other Nationalities, With Many Willing to Switch Services to Protect Their Privacy
A Survey done by F-Secure finds that 66 percent of people were concerned about their data being exposed to intelligence agencies while using online services, with 57 percent saying they’d be willing to pay to prevent their data from passing through American, Russian or Chinese services and territories.
The survey asked nearly 9000 respondents from 11 different countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Sweden — a series of questions about online privacy and security. Not only were the majority of respondents concerned about their online privacy, but respondents from several countries also agreed that they would switch services to ones more sensitive to their privacy needs.
This trend was most visible amongst American respondents. For example, 55 percent of Americans surveyed said they’ve already changed their online behavior in response to increasing privacy concerns. 59 percent of American respondents agreed that they’d be willing to switch search providers to avoid search-based profiling, compared with the survey average of 54 percent.
Different Concerns for Different Nationalities, but Fewer Swedes Worried about Privacy
French respondents seemed concerned about privacy on mobile and new Internet of Things devices. 72 percent agreed that they’re worried about new Internet-connected devices leading to privacy violations. 63 percent agreed that they avoid using public Wi-Fi due to privacy and security concerns.
Many Germans expressed fears about the surveillance capabilities of intelligence agencies, with 67 percent of German respondents agreeing that they were concerned about intelligence agencies in countries where their data moves through.
However, privacy issues overall seemed to be less of a concern amongst Swedish respondents. There were some notable differences between responses given by Swedes compared with other nationalities. Some of these differences include:
25 percent of Swedish respondents agreed that they’ve changed their online behavior in response to increasing privacy concerns, compared with the survey’s average of 54 percent
31 percent of respondents from Sweden agreed that they know where their personal data is stored online, compared with the survey’s average of 49 percent
46 percent of Swedish respondents agreed that they’re worried about new Internet-connected devices leading to privacy violations, compared with the survey’s average of 69 percent
F-Secure Labs Researcher Mikael Albrecht attributed these differences to Swedes’ perceptions of their country being relatively secure. “Swedes perceive their country as safe and stable, especially when compared to countries like UK, USA and France, which have increased network surveillance aggressively. While Sweden and many of the Nordic countries do enjoy relatively secure environments, this shouldn’t translate into becoming overconfident that their personal data will stay private while being exchanged online.”
There were also some surprising consistencies between countries. An overwhelming 80 percent of respondents agreed that they avoid installing apps asking for unnecessary app permissions. Additionally, 60 percent of respondents said that they avoid using public Wi-Fi due to security and privacy concerns, which is surprising given the effectiveness of using VPNs to protect data when using public Wi-Fi hotspots.
