Social media users prefer to retain data privacy
KUCHING: A majority of social media users in Southeast Asia (SEA) want to keep their financial data offline, a report by the global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky report has revealed.
In its report titled ‘Making Sense of Our Place in the Digital Reputation Economy’, it is found that there are some types of personal information which are sacred to social media users in SEA, which they prefer not to share or store online.
Financial information, such as credit or debit card details, tops the list with the majority (76 per cent) of 861 respondents in the region confirming their intent to keep their money-related data away from the internet.
The sentiment is highest among Baby Boomers (85 per cent), followed by Gen X (81 per cent), and Millennials (75 per cent). Gen Z, the youngest generation, logs the lowest percentage with only 68 per cent opting not to store their financial credentials online.
This is not a surprise as several studies cited SEA’s young population as a key factor in its emerging drive towards e-payments, in addition to the significant percentage of the region’s still unbanked or underbanked citizens, the high mobile adoption, and the government’s push for greater digital payment adoption.
Southeast Asians on social networking platforms also prefer not to share on their account their personally identifiable information or PII (69 per cent), information about their immediate family (64 per cent), about their whereabouts (54 per cent), and about their jobs (47 per cent).
When it comes to the group of people they want to keep these data away from, respondents from SEA almost unanimously revealed that it would be worrisome if these particular data will be seen or stolen by cybercriminals (73 per cent) and random strangers online (61 per cent).
“This health crisis accelerated Southeast Asia’s cashless drive at a rapid pace, parallel to the offline-to-online shift of most activities in the region since last year,” Kaspersky’s Asia Pacific managing director Chris Connell commented.
“It is a welcome insight that users here are now thinking thoroughly about the data they share and don’t share online.
“Most also know now that cybercriminals and the general online public should never get their hands on such information. Awareness, however, does not necessarily equate to action.”
While most (71 per cent) of the respondents from SEA use passwords to protect their laptop or mobile phones, just five in 10 (54 per cent) check and change the privacy settings of devices, apps, or services they use and only four in 10 (47 per cent) avoid illegal or pirated software and applications.
The same survey, conducted just last November 2020, also unmasked that only half (53 per cent) of the respondents from the region have installed internet security software on their devices.
“As the fastest growing region in the Asia Pacific in terms of internet adoption, we see that this is just the beginning of SEA’s digital journey.
“It is understandable that some may still feel afraid and unsure when they use services such as digital payments because it is relatively new, and yes, there are risks present.
“This is why it’s crucial to put awareness into action.”
This health crisis accelerated Southeast Asia’s cashless drive at a rapid pace, parallel to the offline-to-online shift of most activities in the region since last year.
Chris Connell