Yes but my anecdotal evidence suggests average people really don't care at all. It seems like only technically oriented people concern themselves with privacy issues.
I doubt the average consumer knows how much data is even collected about them, let alone what happens to it. Viewed this way, one shouldn't assume that they don't care.
Also, it may well be a 'minority of users' who care about privacy at the moment but this may change over the coming years.
I'm presuming you don't have any reliable research to back up what "the users" care about in regards to their privacy. (Sounds a bit close to a politician talking about what Americans want, too.)
I've seen first hand just how little the average person cares about privacy. The type of people who believe they have nothing to hide. My friends and family don't understand why I don't post everything to social media. No I'm not going to install this app and scan all my receipts. BuT wHy?!?!?!
I think many people here on hackernews live in a bubble and just don't understand what is an average human being. They surround themselves with like-minded tech savvy individuals and fail to comprehend how there isn't stronger support for privacy.
Why do we keep assuming that people don’t care about privacy? Perhaps they care just not the way we do because we’re more informed. The average user doesn’t have the technical background to realize how companies are monitoring him online, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that if he knew he wouldn’t give a damn. From another point of view perhaps the main reason a great part of society is skeptical towards technology could be exactly because they fear it could steal away their privacy.
Almost everyone I know is on Facebook and Gmail, most seem to use Chrome, etc.
It seems to vary a lot with subculture. Programmers always seem to be more willing to sacrifice convenience, and people who watch porn seem to be more interested in privacy than most.
I suspect there's a pretty large segment that only cares in theory, at most, and only then just on principle because of the other people who have more interesting data.
Maybe not 95% but probably 90% of certain subsets at least.
As I discussed in another comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34775479), what the "average person" wants and cares about is an objectively bad metric for anyone who cares about digital privacy when making security/privacy relevant decisions. The "average person" is functionally illiterate on matters of digital security and privacy.
>"Why should we care?" That isn't a popular question in communities like HN, but it is how the average person thinks.
This is an oft repeated sentiment that really needs to be questioned. And I don't mean by posting some survey where the questioning is as nebulous as the privacy policies and EULAs that the average person is manipulated into accepting without a clear understanding of the implications.
My one piece of counter data today is that I was at the gym and saw a TV commercial for DuckDuckGo that was painting Google for the privacy thieves that they are.
Daytime TV is a demographic of boomer average users. DDG is actually paying for airtime to target them with a value prop of "we don't invade your privacy like this big thug over here does."
Maybe there is a sea change coming and we might soon see what average people think about how much value they put on their privacy.
So most people seem to "care", but apparently not enough to change their usage habits, or they feel powerless and lack the technical skills to protect themselves. So it could be a matter of education after all, but _most_ of the people I've talked about this, stop me much earlier than we get to the point of discussing what they can do about it.
I'm sorry I'm not accusing you specifically, it's just very aggravating to hear people proclaim how ignorant "the public" is and how only they are wise enough to understand the real issues.
I often hear the argument that the average user does not care about privacy, but I don't think that this is true.
Instead I think the average user is just not aware of the insane amount of data that is exfiltrated and what can be done with that data, because the software does not make it clear what it actually is doing.
If the average person knew that their Google searches can potentially lead to credit rejections or trouble with health insurance providers (hypothetical at this point, but with recent trends not as farfetched as before), I think they certainly would care.
The reason why the masses don't care is because they don't know why kind of havoc this sort of lack of privacy can cause. I for one am glad someone is educating the layman in an accessible and non-condescending way.
The vast majority of people grew up in, and/or are comfortable with, environments with little to no actual privacy - and actually don’t care. To your example - a large, visible, and not-going-away segment of the population sees nothing wrong with the statement you’re alluding to, and strongly believes it as it also lines up with their cultural context.
It isn’t me, and apparently isn’t you - but it is a lot of people, and as the internet has seen wider adoption, that gets more visible.
Is there any evidence to suggest the average person really cares about privacy online to such an extent?
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