4 out 5 people do not want personal data collected or shared without consent

Four out of five people do not want their personal data collected or shared without their consent, according to a new survey.

A recent Realtime Research survey by Invisibly polled 1247 people about their sentiment on online data privacy, including sharing and collecting of their personal data and how they feel about targeted online ads.

The survey found 68% of respondents say data privacy is important to them, with 82% of respondents supporting measures that would prevent companies and devices from collecting or sharing their data.

The survey revealed 76% of respondents do not like getting targeted marketing ads online and say it needs to stop.

Invisibly says the results show most people are concerned with their online privacy and would support changes that would prevent the collecting and sharing of data without consent.

The survey shows that 68% of respondents said personal data privacy was important to them while 32% don't find it important.

The survey revealed that 76% of male respondents, 76% of female respondents and 54% of non-binary respondents say personal data privacy is important to them while 24% of male respondents, 24% of female respondents and 46% of non binary respondents don't think personal data privacy is important.

According to the survey, a majority of respondents in each age group consider personal data privacy important. That includes 68% of respondents under 18, 71% of respondents 18-40, 88% of respondents 41-54 and 71% of respondents 55+

When asked if they would support advertising changes that prevent companies and devices from collecting or sharing their data, 82% of overall respondents said they do, while 78% of male respondents, 87% of female respondents, and 55% of non-binary respondents said that they do.

The survey shows that a majority of respondents in each age group support advertising changes that prevent companies and devices from collecting or sharing data about them.  That includes 74% of respondents under 18, 83% of respondents 18-24,  77% of respondents 25-40, 82% of respondents 41-54 and 72% of respondents 55+.

According to the survey, 76% of respondents don't like getting targeted marketing ads online (from data brands have about them), but 24% of respondents said they like the targeted ads because it helped them to discover new products they love.

When it comes to getting targeted marketing ads online, 28% of male respondents, 17% of female respondents and 27% of non-binary respondents said they love targeted ads and they help in finding new products online.

When it comes to receiving targeted marketing ads online (from data brands have about them), the majority of respondents in each age group said they did not like getting them. The data reveals that 75% of respondents under 18, 79% of respondents 18-24,  74% of respondents 25-40, 82% of respondents 41-54 and 77% of respondents 55 and over, said the ads needed to stop.

"Despite the fact that people are incredibly open about their personal lives on social media, the survey results show that people still value their online privacy, and rightfully so," says Don Vaughn, head of product at Invisibly.

"It's clear that most people don't want to be tracked by advertisers, even when those ads are relevant to their personal interests, and that people are willing to support measures that stop companies from collecting and selling their personal data," he says.

"We suspect this is because data collection now is not a consented process, which Invisibly is working to change."