Data Misuse Causes Concern And Protective Action

As the amount of data people generate is taking off, a combination of personal best practices and government regulations will be necessary to adequately secure people’s data. Over six in ten respondents in Spain voiced concern over data misuse, while a little under half of the respondents from that country took any steps to actively protect their data, according to Statista’s Global Consumer Survey.

This gap between those concerned about data misuse and those taking the necessary action to try and prevent it was the most apparent in South Korea and Japan. While half of the South Korean population reported being concerned about the misuse of their data, only 22 percent of people surveyed took steps to protect their information. For Japan, 35 percent of respondents said they were concerned about data misuse on the internet, while only 12 percent reported taking active measures to protect their data. The UK, U.S., and Germany had similar rates of respondents who registered concern over data misuse, but an approximately equal amount taking protective measures to secure their data.

This chart and other statistics on the direction of the digital economy can be downloaded for free from the Statista Digital Economy Compass 2019, here.