Awareness of French people of the country processing their personal data in 2021

As changes in GDPR and the protection of personal data have become important topics in the lives of French people, the source had asked them if they had ever wondered about the country in which their personal data was stored and processed. Thus, more than half of respondents did not ever question the country in which their data was stored. The French were also questioned on the level of attention they paid to the processing of their personal data on the internet in 2021. That year, more than 45 percent mentioned being quite attentive to it.

Trust in countries processing personal data

Being aware of the country of origin of the most popular online services in France, most French people still expressed a general distrust for any country in terms of protecting or personal data, especially not countries outside the European Union. However, there is little to no European alternative in using online services comparable to the GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft) companies originating from the U.S. But, the means for the EU for creating comparable platforms (in terms of legislation, companies and services) are not lacking.

Personal data protection importance varies according to the online sectors

Looking at personal data issues, it seems that the importance of trust and protection seem to vary according to the sector. Thus, 73 percent of French people considered the security of personal data as important in the telecommunication sector and about 64 percent in e-commerce. For the e-commerce business and during the sanitary crisis in France in 2020, as the demand for online commerce has surged, some e-commerce marketers asked the French population if a certified online identity would have a positive impact on the level of trust in online transactions. Thus, for 93 percent of respondents, the deletion of personal data was rated as important, a factor that has been rated high since 2016.