The Sad State of Social Media Privacy

by: @MDGadvertising B THE SAD STATEO SOCIAL MEDIA PRIVACY Privacy in the social media era: it can seem like an oxymoron. For years, consumers, media, and government regulators have grappled with the problem of online privacy in an increasingly social world. But has anything gotten any better? It appears not. TRUST NO ONE (WELL, ALMOST NO ONE) DISTRUST ONLINE Nearly 2/3 of consumers don't trust online companies like Facebook, even though we all interact with them and share our personal information with them. Extent to Which Consumers Trust Online Companies With Their Personal Information TRUST 271 COMPLETELY 23% SOMEWHAT TRUST 4% DON'T KNOW DO NOT 62% TRUST *Due to rounding, figures exceed 100% GETTING BURNED O00 IGNORANCE IS BLISS One reason consumers don't trust online companies could be that Though millions of Americans use Facebook regularly, many don't they've been burned before. As many as 1 in 2 consumers reported know what information they're offering up by doing so-or what they have suffered an online breach of privacy in recent years. Facebook does with that information. Do you think Facebook sells your personal or behavioral data to advertisers? Nearly half of social media users Of those, 2 in 3 experienced 68% 61% UNSURE have suffered a between 4 and 10 of Facebook users don't privacy-violating experience in the last 2 years. privacy violations during that time. understand Facebook's 29% YES privacy settings. 10% NO BUT PRIVACY ISN'T ANY MORE IMPORTANT GETTING BETTER OR WORSE? Though most say they have less control over their privacy, only 28 percent of people consider privacy more important now. However, the importance of privacy is a polarizing issue between those who do WE HAVE LESS CONTROL TODAY THAN BEFORE and don't use social media. Avid social media users are less concerned with their privacy. A 2011 report by MSNBC and The Ponemon Institute examined how Internet users feel about their privacy today compared to five years Is privacy more or less important to you than it was five years ago? ago. By a wide margin, people feel they have less control over their OVERALL 28% personal info today than they did five years earlier. 14% | MORE 28% IMPORTANT Active Social Media User 58% LESS 69% CONTROL Do you have more or EQUALLY less control over personal information today than five years ago? SAME CONTROL 36% 27% 53% 18% IMPORTANT MORE 13% CONTROL LESS 36% IMPORTANT Social Media Non-User 20% NFEW CAN PROTECT THEMSELVES TODAY U Few social media users believe they can protect their information online. A slim 4 percent of respondents are very confident they can do so. Do users agree with the statement "I'm confident I can protect my personal information when Il'm online"? 4% STRONGLY AGREE 14% AGREE 31% UNSURE 33% DISAGREF WHAT CONSUMERS WANT COLLECTING AND USING PERSONAL DATA Social media users are hungry for more control over their personal information and how it's used online. Most of all, they want to know what's being collected. What Millennials (Ages 19-29) Want When It Comes to Collection and Use of Personal Data 84% 79% 77% Know what data is being collected Opt-in to location tracking Opt-in to online tracking Be able to create a portable privacy profile 76% Be rewarded for sharing personal data 47% 0% 100% THE DESIRE TO SHARE EVEN MORE Studies have shown that consumers have been concerned about their online privacy for years. Social networks should take note: giving users transparent, easy-to-use privacy controls could enable more activity. 61% of social network users would share more if they could control who sees what they share. SOURCES: MSNBC, THE PONEMON INSTITUTE, HARRIS INTERACTIVE, AMERICAN CONSUMER INSTITUTE CENTER FOR CITIZEN RESEARCH, ANONYMIZER mdgadvertising.com twitter: @MDGadvertising