Pure Telecom have announced the results of a survey, which found that less than a third (31%) of Irish people trust social media to protect their personal data.
The survey of 1,005 Irish adults found that only 4% of respondents ‘completely trust’ social media networks to protect their information.
It found that 26% of people have deactivated at least one of their social media accounts due to privacy and data misuse concerns.
30% of men have deactivated at least one of their profiles, compared to 23% of women.
The counties with the most account deactivations were Co Longford (60%), Co Westmeath (56%) and Co Clare (39%).
It revealed that younger generations are more trusting with almost half (42%) of generation Z and millennials trusting social platforms to some extent, compared to just 23% of those over the age of 36.
The level of confidence in social media networks also varied among counties with Co Carlow, Co Westmeath and Co Cavan found to be the three most trusting.
The area with the least confidence was Co Meath, followed closely by Co Leitrim, Co Kilkenny and Co Tipperary.
The research also found that 14% of respondents accept privacy updates after reading them in detail.
However, 31% of people accept them after skimming the information with a further 25% accepting without reading.
The majority of people believed that the social network used was responsible for protecting user privacy and data while a quarter (25%) said the users themselves are responsible.
Paul Connell, CEO, Pure Telecom, said:
“There has never been as much of a focus on the privacy of social media users and the security of their personal data. What these results show is that people have serious doubts about how their information is being handled and have lost confidence in social media networks."
