Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity
    • Mobile

    Millennials Like Their Privacy, but Give It Away Freely

    By
    Robert Lemos
    -
    March 25, 2015
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      mobile security

      The younger generation—Millennials, or those aged 18 to 35—consider themselves the most privacy-aware users of mobile devices, but in reality, they take the most risks, according to a survey of smartphones users by mobile-security firm Lookout.

      While major media stories, such as the revelations that the National Security Agency collects data on millions of people, have raised awareness of privacy, people still use their mobile devices in risky ways, according to Lookout’s Mobile Privacy IQ report, published on March 24. Lookout surveyed 1,012 mobile users in late January and early February and found that 41 percent thought they firmly grasped the privacy implications of mobile devices. Yet more than a third of those privacy-savvy users connect to public WiFi, fail to set a passcode to lock their smartphones and download apps from unofficial marketplaces.

      Among younger users—so-called Millennials—the majority classified themselves as knowledgeable about privacy concerns, but they engaged in risky behavior more often, the report said.

      “While privacy-related headlines are forcing privacy to be top-of-mind for people everywhere, a disconnect exists between people’s understanding of what it means to be privacy-conscious on mobile and the actions they’re taking in the real world,” Cherie Gatson, mobile security expert at Lookout, told eWEEK in an email.

      The report underscored the complexities of protecting personal information on mobile devices when a variety of groups—from cyber-criminals to legitimate companies—aim to collect data on mobile users.

      In the Lookout study, half of those polled considered themselves to have an average “mobile privacy IQ,” a term defined by Lookout as a measure of a person’s privacy knowledge. While 41 percent claimed an above-average or well-above-average mobile privacy IQ, the proportion was higher—51 percent — among Millennials.

      Yet Millennials also engaged in behavior that undermined their mobile privacy and security more often than older people. About 21 percent of Millennials had no problems connecting to public WiFi, compared with 11 percent of those aged 35 to 54, and 4 percent of those 55 years old and older. In addition, 18 percent of Millennials had no issues downloading mobile applications without vetting the permissions, compared with only 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively, of people in the two older categories.

      Overall, people appear not to trust the companies developing mobile applications. About 44 percent of those surveyed expressed concern that mobile applications were mishandling their data. Certain categories of mobile applications caused the most concern, including financial, social media and shopping apps.

      The survey revealed the dangers of consumer devices for companies whose employees regularly bring their own devices into the workplace. Nearly 60 percent of users rated their work data as the least important data on their phone. In addition, the collection of other risky behaviors could mean that employees are putting their companies’ systems at risk, Gatson said.

      “Even more concerning is that once these devices leave the network perimeter, employees are engaging in behavior that could potentially put corporate data at risk,” she said. “In the borderless world we live in today, the consumer and enterprise have collided.”

      Avatar
      Robert Lemos
      Robert Lemos is an award-winning freelance journalist who has covered information security, cybercrime and technology's impact on society for almost two decades. A former research engineer, he's written for Ars Technica, CNET, eWEEK, MIT Technology Review, Threatpost and ZDNet. He won the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2003 for his coverage of the Blaster worm and its impact, and the SANS Institute's Top Cybersecurity Journalists in 2010 and 2014.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×