The Ericsson department that studies consumer behavior conducted last year a survey of consumer awareness, attitudes, and behavior regarding privacy, trust, and safety in the use of the internet. An increasing number of people are sharing their personal data on social networks every day. Behind this development is the growing global popularity of smartphones, thanks to which information sharing is even more convenient and accessible regardless of where you are. Given that in a connected society there will be more than 50 billion interconnected and communicating devices, privacy protection will continue to become increasingly important in the long term. The Ericsson department that studies consumer behavior conducted last year a survey of consumer awareness, attitudes, and behavior in the area of privacy, trust, and safety when using the internet. The report titled Privacy of Consumers in the Online World, which focuses on internet users in the USA, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sweden, examines the issues that the internet brings to consumer privacy and in this context seeks to understand people’s expectations of mobile services, users, and internet operators.
Today consumers already share an enormous amount of information about themselves on social networks, such as Facebook, Google+, or Twitter, as well as local networks (for example, Orkut in India). A total of 63% of those asked in the survey said they log into some social network every day. It is fair to admit that information sharing has become a daily habit and that social networks have paved the way for it. While new technologies continuously bring further innovations, consumers adapt quickly and embrace these new and easy ways to present themselves online. Individuals are becoming increasingly more open and invite other people to activities they would not have invited them to before the social media era. People claim that they are now more open today and share more information than they could have imagined or estimated a few years ago. Social networks are evolving into more than just a pastime form of entertainment—they are becoming tools that people use to create their own identity.
In the past, our privacy was automatically “protected” because, in practice, it was difficult to obtain information about other people. Today, when vast amounts of information about our person are easily accessible on the internet, the privacy question arises when we find ourselves in a situation where our privacy is at risk. According to Ryan Calo, better privacy-protection laws must be adopted, and he is also convinced that there is room for a market of consumer-protecting commercial services.
When we asked a direct question, all consumers stated that privacy is important to them. Compared with other topics and needs, however, a somewhat different picture emerged. Most of the respondents are aware of privacy-protection issues on the internet, but only a minority sees this as a serious problem. However, among younger respondents, who spend the most time on social networks, this figure is much higher. More than 4 out of 5 respondents aged 20–24 said they are very worried about their privacy when using the internet.
Consumers who log on to the internet using location-based services are more concerned about their privacy online than people who do not use those services. If you have a smartphone, you are more aware of potential privacy violations among users of this type of phone. At the same time, for many people it is unpleasant to disclose to other members of their social network where they are at that moment. Although consumers are aware of threats and problems, they either believe that they themselves face no risk, or they are simply convinced that the benefits of the internet outweigh the risk of privacy intrusion.
According to consumers themselves, companies are allowed to use their data—at least 80% of respondents think that companies offering online services have access to their personal data and can use it for commercial purposes. However, they do not see the connection between their personal data, for example in emails, and targeted ads appearing on the computer screen. In total, 54% of respondents answered that they would share less information if they received personalized advertising on a topic that was mentioned in an email. This is a curious statement if we consider, for example, that Gmail automatically scans emails so that it can attach ads related to the message content. Joseph Turow, professor of communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, describes them as consumers who do not connect the dots into the resulting picture. “They do not realize that their personal data is being used in ways they themselves find unacceptable.” He claims that people in general do not understand what data extraction means, when any company is able to build a complete picture of you from all the bits and pieces scattered across the web and use them, for example, to tailor ads to your social network profile.
Ericsson is a global leader in providing technologies and services for telecommunications operators. Ericsson is a leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies and provides support for networks with more than 2 billion users. In addition, the company also holds a leading position in the provision of managed services. The company’s portfolio includes mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecommunications services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, companies, and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson joint venture and ST-Ericsson offer customers state-of-the-art personal mobile devices. Ericsson advances its vision of “driving global communication” through innovation, advanced technologies and sustainable business solutions. Ericsson operates in 180 countries and in 2010, 90,000 company employees generated revenues of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion). The company was founded in 1876 and its headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson shares are listed on the Stockholm OMX NASDAQ and the New York NASDAQ.
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