Source: Pew Research
Published: November 2019
n = 4,272 U.S. adults

Privacy and Control Over Personal Information

Circulated: January 24, 2020

Prevalence of tracking: 62% of respondents feel it is not possible to go through daily life without companies collecting data about them. 63% said the same for the government.

Not feeling in control of personal data: Respondents say they have very little or no control over the data that the government (84%) or companies (81%) collect about them.

Rewards of data collection: 81% think the potential risks of data collection by companies outweigh the benefits. 72% say they personally benefit very little or none from company data collection about them.

Security of personal information: 70% feel that their personal information is less secure than five years ago, 24% feel that it is about the same, and 6% feel that it is more secure.