Who Do Teens Trust Their Personal Data With The Most?

Teens aged 13-17 years old trust public sector organisations with their data the most, over their service providers, brands and social media companies.

This is according to new research by IT solutions provider Logicalis UK which aimed to investigate the digital skills and aspirations of teens in the UK.

While 72% of the 1116 13-17 year olds surveyed said they would be willing to share their data with the public sector, 21% said they were “very concerned” about data being accessed by international government agencies.

Of all their personal data, teens considered personal health data to be the most valuable to share in exchange for future services.

The study, Has The Generation of Things Arrived, positions people in this age group as “Realtimers,” a digital-first group of consumers who are more in control of data, security and privacy than those who came before them.

According to the research, the average UK teen will use five devices and spend six hours engaged in digital activity every day and expect the world they live in to reflect this.

Students want to see more technology in their lessons as well as improvements to the IT curriculum and ICT has joined English and Maths in their top three subject choices.

Just two thirds say the current ICT and curriculum skills is good enough, a clear 20% less than Maths and English.

The Realtimers are also aware of their digital rights – 77% understand the right to be forgotten, more than half are concerned about their data living on and 51% agree with controlling and removing links to data online.

The Digital Future

“Realtimers aspire to a digital, data-centric, connected future, but they hold the cards to the data ownership and sharing that drives this,” claimed co-author of the report Chris Gabriel.

“Whilst this generation can bring significant value to the economy, UK government and business must nurture these digital skills and evolve services alongside them.

“As we see digital footprints grow smarter, and entering the Internet of Things (IoT), organisations must act now to keep pace,” Gabriel added.

© 24N.biz