Europeans who use social networking sites are increasingly
concerned about their privacy.
A study by
Survey Sampling
International (SSI) found that more than 50% of Britons,
Germans, French and Spanish were worried about identity theft and
misuse of personal data.
Their biggest concerns were the risk of ID theft and being
approached by unscrupulous advertisers without their consent.
Surveying a panel of more than 10,000 European consumers, SSI
discovered that Germans (77%) were the most concerned about
unsolicited advertisements.
Consumers in Spain (59%) and France (57%) also feared exposure
to advertisers approaching them via social networks.
As many as 65% of Britons polled said they feared being the
victim of an identity theft scam, followed by 51% of the French and
42% of the Spanish.
The least concerned about having their personal data stolen for
fraudulent use were Germans (40%).
Despite their concerns, respondents were happy to share personal
information on social networks.
Information such as photos, personal opinion and preferences
were the types of personal data that respondents preferred to
share, closely followed by the sharing of personal contacts.
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