Today, the European Commission published the results of its special Eurobarometer survey on data protection on the occasion of the first anniversary of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR has been in force since 25 May 2018 and almost all Member States adjusted their national law to comply with the new rules by now.
For this Eurobarometer survey roughly 25,000 Europeans were asked about their social media habits.
These are the key insights:
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Overall, 67 percent of respondents knew about the GDPR and 57 percent of respondents were familiar with their national authorities for data protection.
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73 percent of respondents knew about at least one of the six tested rights guaranteed by the GDPR. Among these, European citizens were most aware of the right to access their own data (65 percent), the right to correct the data in case they are wrong (61 percent), the right to object to receiving direct marketing (59 percent) as well as the right to have their personal data deleted (57 percent).
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The survey outcome also points to the general concern of data protection among Europeans: 62 percent worried that they were not in complete control over their own data shared online.
Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, commented: “Helping Europeans regain control over their personal data is one of our biggest priorities. But, of the 60 percent Europeans who read their privacy statements, only 13 percent read them fully. This is because the statements are too long or too difficult to understand. I once again urge all online companies to provide privacy statements that are concise, transparent and easily understandable by all users. I also encourage all Europeans to use their data protection rights and to optimize their privacy settings.”
Source: European Commission
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