Data privacy is a big concern for many households. Whether you’re scrolling through social media or shopping online at your favorite store, your personal information could be at risk of getting stolen.
The following data privacy stats explain how big of a security issue this is around the world.
General Data Privacy Stats 2024
- 1 out of every 4 social media users posts private or sensitive information on their account.
- People consider their social security numbers the most sensitive piece of personal information (95%). This is followed by healthcare information (81%), location details (81%), and private messages (75%).
- 95% of people don’t trust online shopping ads that are targeted toward them.
- Only 9% of users always read through the privacy policy before agreeing to it.
- Generally speaking, targeted ads only increase revenue for a company by 4%.
Data Privacy Law Stats 2024
- 47 US states do not have consumer data privacy laws in place. 16 states have pending bills in place and just 3 states have data privacy regulations that are updated.
- An update to the California Consumer Privacy Act came into effect on January 1, 2024. The CPRA delved deeper into laws relating to cookies in this act and now allows California residents to opt out of sale, sharing, and collection of their data. It also dictates that residents can request access to their personal data.
- 79% of organizations trust that data privacy laws have a positive impact today.
- In the EU, the number of GDPR violations increased by 113.5% between July 2020 and July 2021. The fines over this period saw a growth of 124.92%.
- 67% of people in the US are unaware of the privacy and data protection laws in their country and state.
- Only 3% of people in the US trust they truly understand how current privacy laws online work in America.
Scary Data Privacy Stats 2024
- Nearly 80% of Americans feel they have lost control over who has access to their personal data.
- 13% of people would rather share their personal information than pay for content.
- 1 in every 3 websites uses non-secure cookies.
- 18% of the countries do not have any sort of data privacy program or regulations.
- 62% of cookies remain on your browser even after you close the page.
Data Breaches Stats 2024
- 1 out of every 3 social media users has had their account hacked.
- Identity theft is the main reason for most security breaches.
- 22% of companies say they’ve been breached 10 or more times.
- A cyberattack occurs every 39 seconds.
- It takes 287 days on average to identify a data breach.
- A personal data breach costs $12,000 on average. For a company, the average breach cost was $3.86 million.
Data Security Stats 2024
- Changing your password can decrease your chances of getting hacked, although only 33% of people do so regularly.
- 49% of Americans are okay with the government using personal information to track terrorists.
- More than 65% of people in the US want stricter privacy laws.
- On average, large companies (over 100,000 employees) spend approximately $1.2 million on increasing data security.
- 86% of people have attempted to reduce how much information is given about themselves on the internet.
- 74% of parents monitor their child’s online activity.
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FAQs
What is the percentage of consumers who care about data privacy?
Data privacy is a growing issue, with over 86% of people admitting they feel concerned about what happens to their personal information.
40% of people don’t trust companies to securely use their information (47% are worried about being hacked, while 51% are worried about it being sold).
How many people were affected during the largest privacy and data breach?
In 2016, it was discovered that over 500 million Yahoo! user accounts were hacked sometime in 2014. A few months later, Yahoo! discovered another breach from 2013, where an additional 1 billion users were hacked.
However, it was later revealed that all of Yahoo!’s 3 billion accounts were hacked, making it the largest data breach in history.
How many people know about data privacy?
Although 86% of people are concerned about their data privacy, only very few of them actually understand the rules and regulations.
67% of users in the US are unaware of the government’s data privacy rules.
Only 7% of respondents said they know about the current privacy laws.
Conclusion
Hackers and identity thefts are here to stay, although taking certain measures can protect your personal information.
The more you know about data privacy, the more you can defend yourself against potential threats online.
Sources:
- Legal Jobs
- Cloudwards
- TechRepublic
- MarTech Alliance
- DataProt
- Security.org
