Study: Users Willing But Not Happy At Sharing Personal Data

When we sign up for online services and apps, sometimes we need to provide it with personal data like our names, email addresses, phone numbers, credit card information, addresses, and so on. While these companies promise to protect your data, recent breaches have proven that it isn’t always safe.

That being said, a recent study has been done about giving up personal data and it changes the way we previously thought of it. According to Joseph Turow who is a professor at Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication and the lead author of the study, “Companies are saying that people give up their data because they understand they are getting something for those data. But what is really going on is a sense of resignation. Americans feel that they have no control over what companies do with their information or how they collect it.”

In fact according to the study, it found that despite many of us giving up personal information in exchange for services, we’re not too happy about it. For example the study found that 55% of those surveyed disagreed that stores should be allowed to use your personal information to create a better shopping experience for you.

It also found that seven out 10 people disagreed that shops should not monitor your online activities in exchange for free WiFi, and that it is not OK to collect your information without your knowledge in exchange for discounts. This study seems to be in line with Tim Cook’s recent speech in which he lambasted companies such as Google and Facebook who are trying to monetize your personal information.

According to Cook in his speech, “You might like these so-called free services, but we don’t think they’re worth having your email, your search history and now even your family photos data mined and sold off for God-knows-what advertising purpose.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Privacy, Security, study