Half of Americans have decided not to use a product or service because of privacy concerns
The survey also included a two-part open-ended question. Adults who had decided not to use a product or service out of concern for their personal information were asked to describe a recent situation where they decided not to use a product or service. They were then asked, specifically, what the product or service was, and what they found problematic. Roughly one-in-five Americans (21%) said they decided not to use particular websites. A smaller share (11%) said they decided not to use certain electronics. Similar shares said they avoided social media or specific services such as DNA ancestry kits, financial tools or health care.
As far as the reasons for not using these things, the most cited concern was that they must share personal information (15%) in order to get access to the product or service. The second largest concern was that the product or service is untrustworthy (9%). A similar share (8%) cited surveillance as a concern. Smaller shares mentioned concerns such as giving payment information, potential third-party involvement and the risk of spam.
Some respondents elaborated on their reasoning. For instance, a 64-year-old man said: “An email arrived with links to articles. When I clicked the link, the site asked for demographic information about me. I declined to provide the information.”
Explaining her concern about electronics, a 29-year-old woman wrote, “My smart TV requested permission to collect audio data and other types of data for research. I am not comfortable with that, so I declined.”
Some people said they were interested in using various services but did research that changed their minds. One 27-year-old woman said, “I recently was interested in doing a gene analysis to get a better understanding of my ancestors. After doing research I found that companies actually keep this information and use it in other situations. This deterred me from going further with their service. I honestly do not have a clear understanding of what happens with such services but that is exactly what makes me wary of using such services.”
See also: Key takeaways on Americans' views about privacy, surveillance and data-sharing
Note: Here are the questions used for this report, along with responses, and its methodology.
