Confidence in data security

Almost a quarter of Internet users (23 percent) believe that their personal data is safe on the Internet. In the previous year, this was one in five (20 percent) and in 2014, only one in seven Internet users (13 percent) said this.

The vast majority of online users (75 percent) currently feel that their personal data is not secure on the Internet. This is the result of a representative survey of 1027 Internet users in Germany commissioned by the digital association Bitkom.

"Trust in digital technologies will be crucial for Germany as a business location in the future. For innovations to prevail, they need a high level of acceptance among consumers."

says Bitkom President Achim Berg.

By contrast, Internet users are much more skeptical when it comes to data security in public administration. Only 29 percent have confidence in the state and public authorities when it comes to handling their personal data, a drop of four percentage points compared with the previous year.

The general economy achieves the same value: 29 percent of Internet users trust it to manage personal data. Social networks also suffer a loss of trust:

Only one in ten online users (10 percent) expresses trust in social networks when handling personal data. In 2017, the figure was still 15 percent.