Summary: Survey of 1,000 people in the UK and 1,000 in Germany, comparing their attitudes to mobile privacy. Key stats include:
88% of UK workers believe their calls and texts are being listened to, versus 72% of Germans
A third of Germans (33%) are willing to exchange cash for privacy versus almost a quarter of Brits (23%)
UK citizens are Concerned by Privacy Erosion, Nearly Quarter Willing to Pay to Prevent Eavesdroppers
In Europe, Germans are the biggest purveyors of privacy tools/services
London, UK: A tandem survey of 1,000 UK and 1,000 German employees has found that these two nations have quite diverse views when it comes to privacy. While more UK respondents are fearful that their mobile communications are being intercepted than their German colleagues, the Germans are more willing to spend in order to prevent the invasion.
Sponsored by Silent Circle - the private communications firm revolutionising mobile device privacy for organizations and individuals alike, and conducted by OnePoll in May this year, the study found that 88% of UK workers believe their calls and texts are being listened to, versus 72% of Germans. When asked if they’d buy a phone, or subscribe to a service, that protected calls/texts from eavesdroppers, a third of Germans (33%) would happily sign up with almost a quarter of Brits (23%) willing to exchange cash for privacy.
Vic Hyder, Revenue Chief for Silent Circle suggests, “These figures confirm that many consumers recognise mobile communications are no longer private. It’s also reassuring that almost a quarter of the UK respondents, and a third of Germans, value their privacy enough to acquire assistance. This is a trend we’re seeing dramatically increase as individuals start to realise that they do have an option to privacy erosion. Every day we hear from ‘prosumers’, looking to us to help them regain control over the river of personal data being sucked up hourly in exchange for apps purporting to offer ‘free services’. At Silent Circle, our ethos is to offer access to true privacy via secure communication ecosystems for enterprises and individuals alike. And we’re just getting started.”
Silent Circle is changing how the world communicates in the face of increasing criminal, state-sponsored, commercial, and internet-wide privacy threats impacting people around the world. Silent Circle members use Silent Phone to place high-quality, private voice and video calls on iOS and Android devices. Silent Circle’s Silent Phone for Desktop offers private videocalling for Windows computers. Silent Text allows members to exchange private mobile messages, including large attachments up to 100MB with a burn feature that auto-deletes sent messages and attachments at a predetermined time from both senders’ and receivers’ devices