- 86% of internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints—ranging from clearing cookies to encrypting their email, from avoiding using their name to using virtual networks that mask their internet protocol (IP) address.
- 68% of internet users believe current laws are not good enough in protecting people's privacy online
- 55% of internet users have taken steps to avoid observation by specific people, organizations, or the government
- 21% of internet users have had an email or social networking account compromised or taken over by someone else without permission.
- 13% of internet users have experienced trouble in a relationship between them and a family member or a friend because of something the user posted online.
- 12% of internet users have been stalked or harassed online.
- 11% of internet users have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number, credit card, or bank account information.
- 6% of internet users have been the victim of an online scam and lost money.
- 6% of internet users have had their reputation damaged because of something that happened online.
- 4% of internet users have been led into physical danger because of something that happened online.
- 1% of internet users have lost a job opportunity or educational opportunity because of something they posted online or someone posted about them.
Privacy is clearly an important issue for the average internet user. 59% of internet users say people should have the ability to use the internet completely anonymously. 37% of respondents still believe it's possible to be completely anonymous online. 59% said it was impossible.
It's no surprise that younger adults value anonymity higher than their older counterparts. The graph below illustrates that the age gap applies to internet security. Malware authors understand this and try to target older individuals with their phishing emails because of a higher success rate.
When it comes to who internet users are trying to hide from, hackers and criminals are unsurprisingly at the top of the list:
- 33% of internet users said they had tried to hide their activities from hackers or criminals
- 28% said they had tried to hide their activities from advertisers
- 19% said they had tried to hide their activities from people in their past
- 19% said they had tried to hide their activities from certain friends
- 17% said they had tried to hide their activities from people who might criticize, harass, or target them
- 14% said they had tried to hide their activities from family members or a romantic partner
- 11% said they had tried to hide their activities from an employer, supervisor, or coworkers
- 6% said they had tried to hide their activities from companies or people who run the websites they visit
- 6% said they had tried to hide their activities from companies or people that might want payment for the files they downloaded such as songs, movies, or games
- 5% said they had tried to hide their activities from the government
- 4% said they had tried to hide their activities from law enforcement
More shockingly, only 55% of internet users said they have taken steps to avoid being observed by at least one of these groups. That means 45% of internet users are oblivious to their own privacy concerns, and even more tellingly, 66% of internet users don't try to hide from hackers and criminals. With statistics like that, it's no wonder that identity stealing attacks have been on the rise year after year.
When it comes to identity theft, reputation damage, and security issues, the survey said:
- 21% of internet users have had an email or social networking account compromised or taken over without their permission.
- 12% have been stalked or harassed online.
- 11% have had important personal information stolen such as their Social Security Number, credit card, or bank account information.
- 6% have had their reputation damaged because of something that happened online.
- 6% have been the victim of an online scam and lost money.
- 4% have had something happen online that led them into physical danger.
The survey does not try to correlate between whether or not the 11% that had their personal information stolen were comprised primarily of the 45% of internet users who don't care about hiding from hackers, but it's a safe bet that users who don't care about mitigating risk are at a higher risk themselves.
From a security perspective, in summary, while 86% of internet users have taken some kind of action of some sort to cover their steps online, only 33% of internet users tried to hide their activities specifically from hackers and criminals, and only 18% tried to mask their identity. 11% of all internet users were victims of identity theft, and 6% actually lost money due to an online scam.
My own conclusion from this data is that internet users need to try harder to stay safe online. As the graph below shows, the 86% of internet users who took some action to try to stay anonymous online was weighted heavily by actions that realistically have little to no impact on actual online privacy. Clearing your cookies and browser history is simply not sufficient.
Masking your identity, on the other hand, is a useful thing to do when it comes to staying safe online. If you want to join the 33% of users who actually care about their online safety enough to do something about it and stay out of the 11% of users whose identities are stolen, you need a powerful solution to online identity theft. That solution is the Identity Shield, found in all versions of Webroot SecureAnywhere. For more on the Identity Shield, check out our deep dive article to learn all about it and how it can help protect you from identity theft. Then check out our sale on Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete (offer ends October 1st, 2013).