New survey reveals internet users are more concerned about data safety

A survey conducted by Integral Ad Science (IAS) reveals that 50 percent of internet consumers are assured that their web data is secured. While, 67 percent of consumers are more alert about their data safety.

Integral Ad Science collaborated with international data analytics and market research company, YouGov, and surveyed more than one thousand internet users and 350 media specialists. The survey's key findings reveal that users have become more cautious of online data safety and have raised concerns about the lack of knowledge of cybersecurity legislation. In addition to that, how their data is being harvested by third-party apps and other unauthorized websites for advertising objectives.

According to the survey, 9 in 10 of online users are knowledgeable about how different websites and apps gather data without consent for personalized advertisements, but despite knowing the reason, 68 percent of them are still annoyed with these advertising strategies. Moreover, 66 percent of consumers visit websites that offer them the product they have been looking for. They will likely stay and purchase products from the brand's websites when they see relevant ads.

Other than this, less than one third (29 percent) of media specialists have carried out contextual targeting, and 51 percent think that using the practice of showing ads based on a webpage's content would become significant in targeting the relevant audiences. The survey also highlighted what media experts assume about paying attention to data safety. According to Integral Ad Science, 62 percent of market experts believe that awareness of data privacy is essential. However, only 53 percent of media specialists know the privacy policy of browsers, 51 percent understand regulations, and 45 percent are familiar with mobile identifiers.

When asked what media experts think about the safety of personally identifiable information (PII), they say that privacy related to PII is the priority for brands. PII protection is essential for privacy and information security as it could expose consumers’ email, phone numbers, and other personal information to thieves.

Lastly, IAS's chief officer says that data privacy is a significant issue. For data security, changes have been made in the data privacy guidelines which will let consumers and media specialists prioritize privacy. He further added that the IAS platform is convenient for simplifying the concerns of updated privacy guidelines. The solutions provided by IAS are complementary and are made to assist marketers in targeting their relevant audiences and generating revenue while maintaining privacy gaps.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

FTC Jumps In To Prevent Analytics Company From Selling Geo-Location Data Belonging To Millions

The Federal Trade Commission has reportedly jumped in to put an end to a controversial matter that has been a huge concern for a while now.

The FTC has filed a lawsuit against an analytics firm to stop it from selling users’ location data including details like where they’re living and if they can be traced to abortion clinics.

These accusations have been hurled at a company based in Idaho that goes by the name Kochava. According to statistics obtained by the FTC, it’s been involved in illegal behavior for a while now, taking help from data brokers.

Using some assistance from social media apps too, Kochava has sold off the information for reasons that it outlines to be analytics and marketing.

As far as 125 million users data were taken whose status was active on a monthly basis. Moreover, they were seen charging thousands each month to gain access. The type of data even comprised exact longitude and latitude coordinates pertaining to users’ smartphones. Similarly, there was even mention of their IP addresses as well.

To help provide protection to such users, the company was seen stripping out the identities of such users while assigning a particular advertising identification along the way.

In addition to that, the FTC was caught detailing how data could be compiled easily using other types of information taken from third parties that would delineate any user’s identity.

For instance, users’ mobile location devices could combine with various property records to help give a better idea of their identity.

Additionally, the same data could be taken to expose other types of sensitive information like the locations visited. There was special emphasis on abortion clinics, domestic violence areas, and places people go to for worship.

There is more striking evidence on Amazon’s marketplace where stats show how some data had been offered free of cost via free samples over a seven period of time. And on average, one day would entail 62 million devices.

It’s interesting to note that the firm put zero to minimal safeguards into play to prevent threat actors from getting access to the same data. All that was needed was for users to fill out forms.

In the lawsuit, the FTC boldly declares how any purchaser would pop up and utilize personal email IDs to describe their use as simply conducting business. The request would be forwarded for approval and they’ve managed to say yes to requests in less than 24 hours.

To help stop the firm from carrying on with the practice, the FTC says the lawsuit was the only option forward. Selling users’ data for the purpose of tracing them down is wrong and identifies different people. It also puts them at risk for exposure to things like stigma, discrimination, violence, and stalking too.

As of now, we’re still waiting for a request to come forward from Kochava’s side. And while we wait, it’s quite clear what this lawsuit is suggesting. The FTC wants the practice to end and has even asked the US Supreme Court to intervene as a part of the crackdown.

Read next: Adobe Reveals Content Creators Are Increasing At A Steady Pace, And Influencers Are Earning Hefty Amounts In The Process
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Here’s What Makes TikTok Users Buy Products Through the App

TikTok is just one of the many social media companies who are trying to make a foray into the world of ecommerce, but it is unique in that it has experienced a lot more success than many of its better established rivals. Insider Intelligence recently published a report that shows what makes TikTok users make a purchase through the app because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping marketers to plan their campaigns accordingly.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the vast majority of TikTok users, or 71.2% to be precise, stated that they start shopping after randomly seeing a product in their feed as well as seeing them in Stories that they watch. 58.2% also go to TikTok to find inspiration for products that they should buy, and 47.9% also stated that they go to TikTok to gather information about a product that they are considering purchasing.

All of this seems to suggest that TikTok could very well become a social commerce powerhouse before too long, but in spite of the fact that this is the case one potential obstacle for the upstart social platform is the reluctance of its users to trust it with their data. Only 36% of TikTok users said that they felt safe in giving personal information to TikTok, which is quite low with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix and Apple all have over 70% of users saying they trust these platforms with personal data. With 74%, 71%, 71% and 70% respectively, these platforms clearly have an edge over TikTok as far as user privacy is concerned.

However, TikTok’s numbers are not far beyond those of its competitors. 49% of Instagram users said they trusted the platform with private data, 44% said the same of Facebook and the numbers for Twitter were around 41%. That suggests that TikTok is not alone in facing difficulties acquiring the trust of its users, though it is still behind the rest of the pack.

Read next: Influencers Might Be More Trusted by Gen Z Than Reviews on Product Pages
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Adobe Reveals Content Creators Are Increasing At A Steady Pace, And Influencers Are Earning Hefty Amounts In The Process

Data gathered by Adobe reveals that the influencer market continues to grow at a breakneck pace, with 165 million new content creators have joined the ranks in just two years.

This brings the current total to a rough estimate of 303 million, although I can’t see numbers getting particularly accurate anytime soon. Influencers inhabit all sorts of platforms, are from a slew of different backgrounds and aren’t always producing content that’s necessarily in English, thus making it hard to keep track of everyone. The Adobe study that we’re delving into, for example, limits itself to the US, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and South Korea as markets to be explored. This leaves out a veritable number of influencers that originate from areas such as South Asia or even a large chunk of Europe. There’s also the further consideration that influencers or content creators are defined differently by different individuals or groups. Adobe defines content creators as individuals who engage with creative output (e.g. art, photography, and…NFT making), and then post the results online for others to interact with. Influencers, business owners, and the like are defined as subcategories of content creators.

The research shows that while influencers (creators with online followings of more than 5,000 individuals) only comprise 15% of creators as a whole, over half of them are in the top income bracket; in simpler terms, 51% of this population generates a household income of over USD 100,000. Did you spend thousands of years studying towards a career in medicine, drowning yourself in debt throughout the process? Did you then realize that getting matched to a residency program is in and of itself a massive hassle, and can often render individuals to waiting tables until they get a job? Well, next time you’re imagining all of that, do so while remembering that some kid out there’s earning a livable income and then some through making TikTok videos on their mother’s phone.

Content creators in general, while raking in a decent sum of money, aren’t making enough to survive. While the average influencer has made it, creators as a whole typically rely on social exposure as a secondary form of income, having full-time jobs instead. However, I expect this number to perhaps keep shrinking as time goes by; after all, currently, 23% of the world’s population defines themselves as content creators. I only expect these figures to keep accelerating.

Read next: Facebook is Still the Most Effective Platform for Its Users According to This Report
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Phishing Emails Increased by 88% Month Over Month, Here’s Why That Should Worry You

The variety of malicious activities that can result in you losing private data or access to online accounts has widened over the years, and VadeSecure just released a report that sheds some light on the true extent of these attacks. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that email continues to be the most popular mechanism for delivering malware or initiating any other kind of cyber attack based on this research.

While emails containing malware were declining, they have increased by 29% month over month. This has resulted in 22.4 million malware containing emails being sent out over the course of a single month. Meanwhile, phishing attacks conducted through emails have increased by a massive 88% month over month. That is the highest increase in phishing emails that has been seen thus far, and it indicates that the problem might get worse over the next few months.

Many types of malware that were on the decline after 2021 have seen a huge resurgence with all things having been considered and taken into account. For example, a malware known as Emotet that was thought to be neutralized back in 2021 has seen a 44% increase in attack volume with these attacks mainly focusing on users on the European mainland.

In spite of the fact that this is the case, Emotet attacks continue to decline in North America which highlights the region specific nature of such attacks. In India, over 9,000 users were targeted by emails that contained spyware. These emails disguised themselves as tax communiqués because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making users more likely to click on any links they contain and fill out information without questioning it.

Massive corporations like Maersk are being frequently impersonated by threat actors, with over 8,00 New Zealand based users being impacted by attacks that used Maersk’s name in the email subject line. Users need to remain on guard lest the problem continues to spiral out of control.

Read next: This Research Reveals the Massive Problem of Password Fatigue
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Facebook is Still the Most Effective Platform for Its Users According to This Report

AI facial recognition systems start to have a lot of trouble after a person ages more than 5 years, Study reveals

As mankind’s understanding of this world develops, technology also evolves. Facial recognition AI is one of the most controversial aspects of technology as a whole. While the implementation of it in public spaces has raised some eyebrows, in mobile phones it is a highly revered feature.

Well, the thing is that facial recognition depends on photos that are uploaded online first to identify us. As we grow older the face changes, we get wrinkles and skin gets loose. Thus, AI starts struggling to identify us if our pictures are outdated.

While you might be thinking oh it must take years upon years for the algorithm to start to have trouble recognizing us, the thing is that it only takes 5 years for the struggle to start and after 10 or 20 years the AI has no chance of ever recognizing us if our pictures aren’t updated.

To test this a team working at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology led by Ph.D. candidate Marcel Grimmer conducted a test where they created almost 50,000 faces using AI and then synthetically aged them and tested AI on them.

Because commercial systems do not share how their system works, the team had to use open-source recognition systems as it was their second best (available) option. The research found out that it became harder for a system to recognize the person as age increased. According to the result, if a person had exceeded 20 years of their photo being updated then the chances of them being recognized by the algorithm are almost zero. Unless you are Tom Cruise, cause that man does not age.

The age of a person also had a huge impact as for people who were under the age of 20 or over the age of 60, the system had a very hard time recognizing them. As for the former, when a person is in their late teens or early ones they tend to change a lot physically, so it seems logical that an algorithm does not recognize them. Moving on to the latter, the head shape changes, and a person’s wrinkles become more defined, so the failure rates are high there as well, according to Grimmer.

Read next: Research Shows How Much Free Android Apps Siphon User Data
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World