A APMG survey demonstrates that most people are aware of the privacy risks on the internet, but most aren't doing anything about them.
Of the 1,000 people polled by APMG between Oct. 7-9, 71 percent have never used a VPN.
That struck me for two reasons. First of all, the search volume we receive for VPN-related articles is enormous. Second, many companies require the use of a corporate VPN when working remotely. That might explain why 15 percent had used a VPN in the past, but don't currently log on.
Most people, I assumed, would have crossed paths with a VPN at some point. And yet, the vast majority of respondents not only do not currently use a VPN, they have never laid hands on one.
New (and Old) Threats to Privacy
What's interesting about the recent interest in VPNs and the VPN Monster we provide is that it hasn't been tied to a single issue, but rather an avalanche of privacy and security concerns. An awful lot has happened in the last few years, the answer to which has often been "use a VPN."
One of the first news items that seemed to spur VPN adoption was the decision by Congress to allow internet service providers (ISPs) to sell anonymized user data. That's reflected in our survey data, where 25 percent of respondents (correctly) identified ISPs as the biggest threat to their individual privacy.
In our survey, 24 percent of respondents also listed Facebook as a threat to their privacy.
Admittedly, a VPN won't do much when it comes to the kind of surveillance carried out by Facebook, but it's still spooky to learn that the company is even tracking users who don't have Facebook accounts.
These issues haven't been limited to the US. Russia and China have introduced new rules that make it much harder for VPNs to operate within those countries. Furthermore, Russia recently banned popular encrypted messaging app Telegram, reportedly driving more users to adopt VPNs.
Another threat reflected in the survey is the dangers in using public Wi-Fi networks. There's no way to know that the network labeled "Starbucks_Wifi" is legit and not a network created for the express purpose of nabbing people's personal information. Fortunately, 43 percent of respondents said the main reason they would use a VPN was to access public Wi-Fi.
And then there's net neutrality. Many hoped that the ongoing fight to ensure that ISPs must treat all web traffic equally in terms of speed and accessibility would end with updated FCC rules during the Obama administration. Unfortunately, a new FCC chairman decided (incorrectly) that these rules were unnecessary and successfully dismantled them.
This is where our numbers seem a bit out of step with reality, as we found that 55 percent of respondents who agreed with the concept of net neutrality had never used a VPN. Although 46 percent said they supported it, 32 percent didn't know what it was. That's disappointing on its own.
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