Pan-European survey of practices, attitudes and policy preferences as regards personal identity data management

This Report presents the results of the largest survey ever conducted in Europe and elsewhere about people's behaviours, attitudes and regulatory preferences concerning data protection, privacy and electronic identity, both on the Internet and otherwise in their daily lives. It finds that personal data disclosure is increasingly prevalent in the European society, largely due to the expansion of the Information Society. In turn, most services provided in the digital economy rest on the assumption that this data and associated electronic identities are collected used and disposed of according to existing legislation. The survey shows very clearly how Digital Europe is shaping up. About two thirds of EU27 citizens use the Internet frequently, more than one third uses Social Networking Sites (SNS) to keep in touch with friends and business partners and almost 4 out of 10 shop online. In both of these contexts, people disclose vast amounts of personal information, and also manage a large and growing number of electronic identities. However, there are equally significant differences among Member States and considerable digital exclusion, mainly due to socio-demographic differences in affluence, education and age. These are some of the insights of the Eurobarometer Survey on Data Protection and Electronic Identity conducted in December 2010. The results were published in June 2011. The report builds on the top line results presented in the EB-359 report and analyses in depth the information collected so as to draw conclusions in direct relation to four key Digital Agenda areas: e-Commerce, Social Networking Sites, Authentication and Identification and Medical Information as Personal Data.