UK internet users becoming more security conscious
Most UK internet users are becoming more knowledgeable about security issues and less willing to provide personal information online, according to new Ofcom research.
It reveals that 80 per cent of adults with a social networking profile are now more likely to only allow friends or family to see it, compared to 48 per cent in 2007.
However, around a quarter of internet users lack confidence in installing filtering software and security features.
The findings are part of Ofcom’s Media Literacy reports, which reveal the UK’s media consumption habits and attitudes.
Safety and security
They show that adults in Scotland are the least likely overall to worry about entering their personal data online.
Fifty per cent of Scots are happy to enter their home address details on the internet – more than double the number of those in Wales and Northern Ireland (23 per cent).
Forty four per cent of adult internet users in Scotland are also happy to enter their credit card details online – compared with only 19 per cent of adults in Northern Ireland.
Parents in Northern Ireland are stricter about TV viewing compared with parents in the other nations – 87 per cent of parents in Northern Ireland have rules about their children’s TV viewing (compared with 76 per cent in Wales).
Parents in Northern Ireland are also more likely to have PIN or password controls on TV services at 36 per cent compared with 24 per cent of parents in Wales.
Ofcom supports Get Safe Online – a joint initiative between the Government, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, and public and private sector sponsors.
Get Safe Online raises awareness of internet security, and helps individuals and smaller businesses in the UK to use the internet confidently and safely.
Trust in sources of media
While around half of all adults consider television and radio content to be reliable and accurate, only three in ten internet users feel the same about web content.
But more people say that they trust news websites (58 per cent of internet users) than TV news output (54 per cent of TV viewers), while trust in radio news trumps both (66 per cent of radio listeners).
Just over half of internet users who use search engines make some kind of evaluation of the results from these websites.
But one in five trust that the website results from search engines will have accurate and unbiased information, rising to a quarter of those in C2DE socio-economic groups.
Source: OFCOM