A joint study by Google and the Boston Consulting Group has revealed that approximately 90% of all consumers will willingly share their email if an incentive is provided in exchange.
When it comes to online privacy, a little goes a long way. Even the smallest and simplest safety procedures, such as using password banks, can provide users with a lot of much-needed protection. Vice versa, even the slightest leeway will grant opposing parties and cybercriminals all that they need in order to obtain personal information and cause damage. Your using the same password across multiple platforms may seem like no big deal, but it leaves users and their precious data vulnerable across multiple fronts. Then again, taking any extra precaution, no matter how easy the process may be, is often a tiring task for anyone to go through. Sure, password managers are easily available, but they take 20 minutes to download and set up, which is more than any user’s willing to shift their attention away from other tasks or social media feeds. Also, before the more elderly individuals reading this article smugly associate such behavior with millennials and gen Z, I’d like for them to practice a little introspection and take a look at just how elaborate and diverse their passwords are, or even if they remember to clear their browser cache every once in a while.
Of course, we’re always willing to suspend out inactivity if there’s a prize to be won at the end of it. While I write “prize”, the thing being won doesn’t really have to be anything all too fancy or grandiose; just the mere thought of ending a task with a sum total of more than one had before it is enough for someone to keep going. Carnival games make thousands of bucks off of the same concept. Offering a discount for sharing personal information must come off as a steal to most individuals.
The study divides consumers into different categories, and then displays the sort of information they’re most and least comfortable with sharing. 54% of Zoomers, for example, are completely comfortable with sharing their email addresses for incentives, but are also 52% less likely to share their emails elsewhere. Young Urban Professionals (or just millennials, I guess), are 113% more comfortable with sharing their social media activity, but are 36% less comfortable with revealing their gender. New parents are 70% more likely to share their income, but are 43% less likely to share their internet activity. Hey, any discount on that new stroller is worth it, right?
Read next: New Report From Snapchat Highlights the Necessity of Privacy Tools
When it comes to online privacy, a little goes a long way. Even the smallest and simplest safety procedures, such as using password banks, can provide users with a lot of much-needed protection. Vice versa, even the slightest leeway will grant opposing parties and cybercriminals all that they need in order to obtain personal information and cause damage. Your using the same password across multiple platforms may seem like no big deal, but it leaves users and their precious data vulnerable across multiple fronts. Then again, taking any extra precaution, no matter how easy the process may be, is often a tiring task for anyone to go through. Sure, password managers are easily available, but they take 20 minutes to download and set up, which is more than any user’s willing to shift their attention away from other tasks or social media feeds. Also, before the more elderly individuals reading this article smugly associate such behavior with millennials and gen Z, I’d like for them to practice a little introspection and take a look at just how elaborate and diverse their passwords are, or even if they remember to clear their browser cache every once in a while.
Of course, we’re always willing to suspend out inactivity if there’s a prize to be won at the end of it. While I write “prize”, the thing being won doesn’t really have to be anything all too fancy or grandiose; just the mere thought of ending a task with a sum total of more than one had before it is enough for someone to keep going. Carnival games make thousands of bucks off of the same concept. Offering a discount for sharing personal information must come off as a steal to most individuals.
The study divides consumers into different categories, and then displays the sort of information they’re most and least comfortable with sharing. 54% of Zoomers, for example, are completely comfortable with sharing their email addresses for incentives, but are also 52% less likely to share their emails elsewhere. Young Urban Professionals (or just millennials, I guess), are 113% more comfortable with sharing their social media activity, but are 36% less comfortable with revealing their gender. New parents are 70% more likely to share their income, but are 43% less likely to share their internet activity. Hey, any discount on that new stroller is worth it, right?
Read next: New Report From Snapchat Highlights the Necessity of Privacy Tools