In August 1991, the world’s first ever web page was published online. Now, more than three decades later, the internet is estimated to serve some 5.16 billion people, with a global internet penetration rate of 64.4 percent.
But along with the many benefits of the online world and our increased interconnectivity also come risks. This includes phishing, when bad actors try to obtain private data such as banking details from users by sending bogus emails that impersonate companies or public bodies, as well as attempts to breach and leak databases that hold personal information for subsequent identity theft or scams using credit cards.
The following chart uses data from Statista’s Consumer Insights survey to show where the question of the misuse of their personal data is a common concern. It reveals that out of the selected countries, a bigger share of Spanish respondents were concerned (56 percent) than the other polled countries, followed by Chile (50 percent), and Mexico (48 percent). Meanwhile, under a third of respondents shared the same concern in the United States (27 percent), South Africa (28 percent) and the United Kingdom (28 percent).
