Different patterns across Member States in managing personal information
More than 80% of persons aged 16 to 74 in the European Union (EU) used the internet in 2016, in many cases via several different devices. Mobile phones or smart phones were the device most used to surf the internet, by over three-quarters (79%) of internet users. They were followed by laptops or netbooks (64%), desktop computers (54%) and tablet computers (44%).
During the last twelve months, more than 70% of internet users in the EU provided some kind of personal information online, many of them undertaking different actions to control access to this personal information on the
internet. Almost half of them (46%) refused to allow the use of personal information for advertising and 40% limited access to their profile or content on social networking sites. In addition, 37% of internet users read privacy policy statements before providing personal information and 31% restricted access to their geographical location.
This information, issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, is part of the results of the survey conducted in 2016 on ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) usage in households and by individuals.
