Eurobarometer 83.1 (2015)

Attitudes towards the EU. Protection of online personal data.

Topics: 1. Attitudes towards the EU: life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; assessment of the current situation of the national economy; expected development of the national economy in the next twelve months; most important problems in the own country, personally, and in the EU; general direction things are going in the own country and in the EU; trust in selected institutions: national government, national parliament, European Union; EU image; attitude towards the following issues: European economic and monetary union with one currency, common European defence and security policy, free trade and investment agreement between the EU and the USA, common European migration policy, common European energy policy; optimism about the future of the EU.

2. Protection of online personal data: internet use at home, at work, at school; frequency of the following online activities: use social networks, buy goods or services, use instant messaging or chat websites, use peer-to-peer software or sites to exchange movies etc., make or receive phone or video calls, banking, play games; approval of the following statements: national government asks increasingly for personal information of citizens, feeling of obligation to provide personal information online, provision of personal information as a precondition for obtaining certain products or services, respondent does not bother much with the provision of personal information, provision of personal information as an increasing part of modern life, willingness to provide personal information in return for free online services; main reasons for providing personal information online; feeling of control over personal information provided online; extent of concern about not having complete control; awareness of recent revelations about government agencies collecting personal data for the purpose of national security; impact of these revelations on personal trust regarding the use of online personal data; most serious risks of providing personal information online; attempts made to change the privacy settings of the personal profile on an online social network; assessment of the changes as easy; reasons for not changing; preferred persons or authorities to ensure the safety of online personal data; concern about the recording of everyday life activities: on the internet, in public spaces, in private spaces, via mobile phone, via payment cards, via store or loyalty cards; awareness of the conditions of collection and the further use of personal data provided online; attention payed to privacy statements on the internet; reasons for not paying attention; feeling of discomfort regarding tailored advertisements or content based on personal online activity; attitude towards the requirement of an explicit personal approval before collecting or processing personal information; trust in selected institutions with regard to protecting personal information: national public authorities, European institutions, banks and financial institutions, health and medical institutions, shops and stores, online businesses, phone companies and internet service providers; concern about personal data being used for different purposes without personal consent; importance of the possibility to transfer personal data in the case of change of online service provider; desire to be informed if personal data are stolen; preferred authorities to inform users in case personal information are stolen; importance of equal rights and protections over personal data regardless of the country in which the authority or company is located; preferred level on which the enforcement of the rules on personal data protection should be dealt with: European, national, regional or local; knowledge of a public authority in the own country responsible for protecting citizens’ rights regarding personal data; preferred body to address a complaint to regarding problems concerning the protection of personal data; data most concerned about when lost or stolen: data stored on mobile phone or tablet, data stored online in the cloud, data stored on PC.

Demography: nationality; left-right self-placement; marital status; family situation; age at end of education; sex; age; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; possession of durable goods (entertainment electronics, Internet connection, possession of a car, a flat/a house have finished paying for or still paying for); financial difficulties during the last year; Internet use (at home, at work, at school); self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU.

Additionally coded was: country; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; number of persons present during the interview; respondent cooperation; size of locality; region; weighting factor; language of the interview; nation group.