Smartphone users claim concerns over privacy, behavior says otherwise

Mobile phone privacy

Apple made headlines this year when it was discovered that iPhones could be tracking users’ moves and the company was storing all of the data along with text and phone data. News anchors across America editorialized in an outraged tone. For many people, smartphones act as our personal, portable computers and we have them with us at all times but many don’t think about what information that device holds.

The infographic presented below is interesting in that it studies consumer behavior and juxtaposes it with consumer surveys regarding their attitudes regarding privacy concerns. The surveys reveal that consumers are highly concerned with mobile phone privacy yet their actual behavior is quite different, most likely because of user ignorance or laziness. That may sound harsh, but think of it this way- users may not know to look deep into detailed settings to protect privacy (ignorance), or may simply install an app and forget about it (laziness).

Some of the stats are pretty intriguing- nearly half (42%) of smartphone users do not agree or disagree that mobile apps protect the privacy of their information and 97% say privacy is a top concern along with their being aware of what types of information is collected and their control over which parts of that information are public versus private.

In the contradiction alluded to above, 99% of smartphone users say privacy is important, but only 52% have actually read the privacy policy of a mobile application.

We love that 34% of respondents note they would be willing to trade chocolate for internet on their phones while 43% would trade drinking beer and 20% would trade their cable tv. Wow. Chocolate, beer and cable, all for internet on a mobile phone.

Phone privacy stats

Check out the infographic below and tell us in comments which stats most struck you.

Click to enlarge.