Although it is often perceived that the older generation is more likely to sell their data for something good in return, but that seems to be all lies and great manipulation. In fact, the reality is far opposite to that as a research proves that millennials and generation Z-ers are more inclined towards selling their data for a hefty package.
TheBestVPN, a virtual private network service provider has recently conducted a study that is based on 1,002 consumers giving their opinions on personal data and privacy.
The respondents were given some simple questions to answer which included whether they would ever consider selling their data, what certain types of data do they think are worth it or do they take any steps to keep their data private. The results were astonishing!
To start off with the only positive, over 93% of the respondents claimed that they did take actions to protect their online privacy. However, when they were asked about it in detail, more than half of these people meant that they used passwords or kept on changing them with the passage of time. 48% used two factor authentication while 18% were wise enough to opt for encrypted messaging services.
The chart below explains what type of data do people really care about.
Now as people tend to be okay with the widespread perception that sharing photos, location and employment data doesn’t really count as something risky to present it to the world, especially how the same information is present on social media, but the trouble only starts from that point. The act of compromise continues for medical data, government records and web-browsing data which is all what bad actors need to steal your private data without your consent.
The surprises just don’t end here as around one-quarter of people agree to sell their driver’s license and fingerprints as well. While indeed we have reached a point in time when people are willing to sell plasma and sperm in order to pay cell phone bills till the next GoFundMe request of covering insulin cost, but selling the identities is even crazier!
If we look at the bigger picture then it is not only about identity theft but also a matter of everyday vigilance.
The author of the survey explains it in a rather brilliant way that as many hesitate to sell their data, yet they unintentionally make it easily accessible every day. Even if we leave the shopping experiences, we are obliged to log into apps or websites with email addresses. In the survey, 40% of respondents refused to give their email address but at the same time they didn’t even care once while creating an account somewhere or signing in with the same email.
Other insights from the survey includes that people who were willing to sell their data would together set up the social security number up to $10,000 which is $9,998 too high. The worst part here is that such people won’t find any black market representatives to sell their identities. In fact, someone is just going to steal it through a list of hacked documents and easily sell it to 50,000 others and that too at a discount since the dealing occurs in bulk.
Hence, these statistics summarize this one important point that people in their 20s are more likely to sell their data despite being the most tech-savvy generation. Let’s take it as a personal responsibility to look for the right alternatives and amend the statistics. I’m in 20s myself and raises my hand up for the change!
Read next: Consumers Are Concerned & Confused About Online Data Privacy - Survey Proves!
TheBestVPN, a virtual private network service provider has recently conducted a study that is based on 1,002 consumers giving their opinions on personal data and privacy.
The respondents were given some simple questions to answer which included whether they would ever consider selling their data, what certain types of data do they think are worth it or do they take any steps to keep their data private. The results were astonishing!
To start off with the only positive, over 93% of the respondents claimed that they did take actions to protect their online privacy. However, when they were asked about it in detail, more than half of these people meant that they used passwords or kept on changing them with the passage of time. 48% used two factor authentication while 18% were wise enough to opt for encrypted messaging services.
The chart below explains what type of data do people really care about.
Now as people tend to be okay with the widespread perception that sharing photos, location and employment data doesn’t really count as something risky to present it to the world, especially how the same information is present on social media, but the trouble only starts from that point. The act of compromise continues for medical data, government records and web-browsing data which is all what bad actors need to steal your private data without your consent.
The surprises just don’t end here as around one-quarter of people agree to sell their driver’s license and fingerprints as well. While indeed we have reached a point in time when people are willing to sell plasma and sperm in order to pay cell phone bills till the next GoFundMe request of covering insulin cost, but selling the identities is even crazier!
If we look at the bigger picture then it is not only about identity theft but also a matter of everyday vigilance.
The author of the survey explains it in a rather brilliant way that as many hesitate to sell their data, yet they unintentionally make it easily accessible every day. Even if we leave the shopping experiences, we are obliged to log into apps or websites with email addresses. In the survey, 40% of respondents refused to give their email address but at the same time they didn’t even care once while creating an account somewhere or signing in with the same email.
Other insights from the survey includes that people who were willing to sell their data would together set up the social security number up to $10,000 which is $9,998 too high. The worst part here is that such people won’t find any black market representatives to sell their identities. In fact, someone is just going to steal it through a list of hacked documents and easily sell it to 50,000 others and that too at a discount since the dealing occurs in bulk.
Hence, these statistics summarize this one important point that people in their 20s are more likely to sell their data despite being the most tech-savvy generation. Let’s take it as a personal responsibility to look for the right alternatives and amend the statistics. I’m in 20s myself and raises my hand up for the change!
Read next: Consumers Are Concerned & Confused About Online Data Privacy - Survey Proves!
