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Europeans Share Their Lives On Social Networking Sites Despite Concerns About Misuse Of Personal Data
Published 16th July 2008
A recent study conducted by Survey Sampling International found that more than 50 percent of Britons, Germans, French and Spanish worry about identity theft and misuse of personal data...
London, U.K. July 10th 2008 – The risk of identity theft and being approached by unscrupulous advertisers without their consent are the most prevalent concerns amongst Europeans accessing social networking sites, according to a new survey by Survey Sampling International (SSI).
Surveying a panel of just over 10,500 European consumers, SSI discovered that Germans (77 percent) were the most concerned about being the target for unsolicited advertisements. Consumers in Spain (59 percent) and France (57 percent) also feared exposure to advertisers approaching them via social networks.
The risk of identity theft is also a major issue amongst many European consumers. As many as 65 percent of the Britons polled said they feared being the victim of an identity theft scam, followed by 51 per cent of the French and 42 per cent of the Spanish. The least concerned about having their personal data stolen for fraudulent use were respondents in Germany (40 percent).
Despite these concerns, respondents were happy to share personal information in social networks. Information such as photos, personal opinion and preferences were the top two types of personal data respondents preferred to share, closely followed by the sharing of personal contacts.
When asked which interactive technology people most preferred using, the survey revealed that Britons are most keen on social networking (28 percent), and that 18 percent of the French, 31 percent of the Spanish and 32 percent Germans favour watching videos online.
In all four countries most respondents spend more than 20 hours per week online, with Germans leading the way at 31 per cent. These were closely followed by UK (30 percent), Spain (26 percent) and France (23 percent).