From behind closed doors to under the looking glass. What happened to privacy?
McCann study shows that concern about the erosion of privacy has surpassed fear of terrorism and serious environmental issues.
Whether in real life or online, people like to talk, share and express themselves. Since the advent of Facebook and other social networks and media platforms, our lives have been put on display like a reality show, and personal information is exposed like never before. Unless you avoid partaking at all, or diligently apply super-max security settings, privacy has clearly dissolved. So what does privacy truly mean to each of us? Our affiliates at McCann Worldgroup decided to find out in their recent study entitled The Truth About Privacy, consisting of data compiled from 6,525 people in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, India, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Belgium and Italy. The findings are compelling. The nature of what is public and private has shifted – so much so that 75% of global respondents agree that people share far too much information online. But what really stands out is where the erosion of privacy ranks amongst other major global concerns, coming in second at 70%, just behind the fear of a further global financial crisis at 78%, but worrying people more than increased levels of terrorism, climate change, instability of nuclear power, oil shortages and a growing number of pandemics, which all rank as less of a concern.
“The technological era has forced humans to evolve and adapt to new realities. People will learn to manage their private lives online the same way people learned to keep their mobile phones open at all times, became reachable at any given moment, stopped surfing the Web and began searching for specific things. They will learn to use the available tools and better separate their corporate, social and personal lives,” says Bobby Destounis, Social Media and Interactive Director at Marketel. While our borderless world of technology has enabled us to connect with people, it also exposes us to a new level of vulnerability. How much does your privacy mean to you?
Whether in real life or online, people like to talk, share and express themselves. Since the advent of Facebook and other social networks and media platforms, our lives have been put on display like a reality show, and personal information is exposed like never before. Unless you avoid partaking at all, or diligently apply super-max security settings, privacy has clearly dissolved. So what does privacy truly mean to each of us? Our affiliates at McCann Worldgroup decided to find out in their recent study entitled The Truth About Privacy, consisting of data compiled from 6,525 people in the U.S., U.K., China, Japan, India, Chile, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Belgium and Italy. The findings are compelling. The nature of what is public and private has shifted – so much so that 75% of global respondents agree that people share far too much information online. But what really stands out is where the erosion of privacy ranks amongst other major global concerns, coming in second at 70%, just behind the fear of a further global financial crisis at 78%, but worrying people more than increased levels of terrorism, climate change, instability of nuclear power, oil shortages and a growing number of pandemics, which all rank as less of a concern.
“The technological era has forced humans to evolve and adapt to new realities. People will learn to manage their private lives online the same way people learned to keep their mobile phones open at all times, became reachable at any given moment, stopped surfing the Web and began searching for specific things. They will learn to use the available tools and better separate their corporate, social and personal lives,” says Bobby Destounis, Social Media and Interactive Director at Marketel. While our borderless world of technology has enabled us to connect with people, it also exposes us to a new level of vulnerability. How much does your privacy mean to you?
