Are You a Cautious Contributor or an Online Nudist?

When it comes to online privacy and the dangers of over-exposing yourself on social media sites like Facebook, people already start rolling their eyes. “Not this boring lecture again” they might even add. Even though most people agree that protecting your identity and personal data is important, they do really little for it in practice, not to mention they hate being reminded of the topic. HideMyAss, one of the most recognized VPN provider (and not just for the name), conducted a social study on people’s attitude and habits with regards to online security. But instead of presenting it in a dry manner, they draw a fun little infographic, and even drew parallels between some popular celebrities! Now you can decide whether you are a DiCaprio or Kardashian in terms of online persona.

Last year, the hacker attack on the Ashley Madison database led to some devastating consequences. All the personal data of the adultery site’s members was exposed to the public, and some malicious individuals started to ransom people for money. One might think that internet users learned from this event, but no: they become victim of credit card scams, online impersonation and social media account hacks on a daily basis. That’s why HideMyAss felt the need for a serious report on people’s digital habits and knowledge on safety measures like VPN. Although the study was commissioned by HMA, it was conducted by Morar Condulting, who polled 2,000 individuals in the USA. So this isn’t something HideMyAss pulled out of its… mind.

The survey revealed that even though people are aware of the dangers of sharing too muchpersonal information, they do nearly nothing to effectively protect themselves. 67% of consumers claim to want an extra layer of protection, but only a portion of them are willing to use tools like VPN, privacy-enhancing browser plugins or email encryption. The reason is simple: people fear giving up their convenience and social media more than they worry about the possibility of a cyber-attack. This could be because they are blissful of the fact that VPNs nowadays won’t limit your possibilities, and you only need to make some minor changes in your virtual life to fully protect yourself.

Beside these serious facts, the report also showed the emergence of five different approaches to online life. According to the digital life spectrum, there are the Old School Sharers, who are cautious and share very little info, but prone to repeat the same mistakes; the Cautious Contributors, who guard their online identity “with an iron fist”; the Online Nudists, who crave attention on forums and are even willing to sacrifice safety for it; the Tech Savvy Butterfly; who breathe and live on social sites, but are the prime victims of an account hack; and lastly the Digitally Enlightened, who maintain a worry-free life as they become personal security gurus.