One in two Germans would be willing to pay money to use Facebook’s services if data protection were better. As a new infographic from Kryptoszene.de shows, the public feels there is a lot of catching up to do in this area. While the social media giants are drawing criticism, companies in the field of data protection and cybersecurity are reaping the benefits.
Only 26% of German citizens trust Facebook when it comes to their privacy. Only Twitter and TikTok performed worse. At the other end of the scale is Microsoft: as many as 64% trust the tech company. This is the finding of a representative survey by Omniquest.
At the same time, a marked ambivalence is emerging. Despite Germans expressing significant privacy concerns about Facebook and related services such as Instagram and WhatsApp, 74% continue to use the apps on a daily basis. It is also interesting to note that, according to an Avira survey, data protection concerns about TikTok are significantly milder, although some experts have identified much more serious security flaws with the Chinese app.
Data Protection Gains Importance
Google data meanwhile suggest that the issue is increasingly on people’s agendas. An indicator of relative search volume, the trend score for the search term „data protection” is currently at a high of one hundred. This is likely to be related to the data protection protests surrounding the WhatsApp guidelines.
Germany is often thought of as having an especially intimate relationship with strict data protection regulations, as well as comparatively high trust in the state. Nevertheless, 65% of Germans are concerned about their data on the Internet because of their government, compared with 70% in the UK and as many as 80% in the USA.
At least companies from the data protection and cybersecurity sectors are likely rejoicing at rising demand. This is at least what a look at the share price performance of listed industry representatives suggests. Within the last year, the price of Zscaler shares climbed by 263%. Palo Alto’s gain amounts to 35.2% – and all of this over a period in which other sectors have had to accept losses.
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