Due to the ever-increasing digitization, the GDPR was introduced as an EU regulation in 2018. The standardized data protection is intended to ensure that Internet users have full control over the use of their data. Companies and individuals across Europe have had to come to terms with these measures and rules to make the internet a safe place. How well people in Europe have adapted to the GDPR provides insight into how security-conscious and Internet-savvy people are in different countries across Europe.heyData conducted a study to find out which European countries are the safest on the Internet, highlighting the differences between countries and different age groups. Using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, we looked at EU countries as well as Norway, Turkey, Iceland, and the United Kingdom, and analyzed the following age groups: 16-24, 25-54, and 55-74.
The study focuses on the following factors to identify security-conscious and Internet-savvy people:
People who have not had a virus on their PC in the last three months
People who were not affected by phishing
People who use anti-tracking software
Individuals who have not experienced a breach of personal information or privacy
The level of privacy settings of people in social media
People who protect their personal data from advertisers
People who were not affected by payment fraud
Whether a person prevents or restricts cookies
Based on these factors, we were able to create a ranking that shows where people are safest on the Internet.
Age group
Methodology
The aim of the study is to find out which countries and age groups have the greatest affinity for the Internet. The study examined the countries of the European Union as well as Norway, Turkey, Iceland and the United Kingdom.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta, Cyprus and Romania had to be excluded from the study due to insufficient data and to allow a fair comparison between all countries.
For the study, all countries were analyzed in the following eight fields of investigation: Internet users not affected by viruses in the past three months, not affected by misuse of personal data or privacy breaches, not affected by financial losses from fraudulent payments, not affected by phishing, as well as the level of privacy of profiles on social media, browser settings to prevent or restrict cookies, use of anti-tracking software, and protection of personal data from advertisers.
All influencing factors were selected based on their significance in terms of objective safety when using the Internet.
Rankings were compiled by age group (16-24, 25-54, and 55-74), gender, and country.
The result is a ranking of the pioneering nations, age groups and genders in terms of Internet safety and affinity.
Field of investigation 1: Users who have not been affected by viruses in the last 3 months (computer malware)
The need to protect a computer from viruses is a must with the increasing digitalization and the presence of appropriate protection shows how security-conscious users are. A computer virus is a malicious program or code that alters the way a computer works and can spread from computer to computer. The virus can attach itself to a legitimate document or program.
This research area examined how many people have not had a virus on their computer in the last three months. The data for this was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The lower the score, the better users protect themselves with antivirus software.
Field of investigation 2: Individuals who are not affected by misuse of personal data or violations of privacy (personal data)
Misuse of personal data can take many forms, such as the loss of personal data or the sharing of data with unauthorized recipients. A data breach is broadly defined as a security incident that compromises the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of personal data. A data breach occurs when personal data is destroyed, lost, damaged, or disclosed, or when it is disclosed or made inaccessible without authorization.
A lower score in this area reflects a high level of security awareness. The data were taken for the last three available months and come from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Field of investigation 3: Persons who have not suffered financial losses due to fraudulent payments (payment fraud)
The need to protect a computer from viruses is a must with the increasing digitalization and the presence of appropriate protection shows how security-conscious users are. A computer virus is a malicious program or code that alters the way a computer works and can spread from computer to computer. The virus can attach itself to a legitimate document or program.
This research area examined how many people have not had a virus on their computer in the last three months. The data for this was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The lower the score, the better users protect themselves with antivirus software.
Field of investigation 4: People who are not affected by phishing (phishing)
Phishing is an attack on the computer to steal data such as credit card numbers or login credentials. The attacker poses as a trusted entity and tries to trick victims into opening an email, text message or instant message and providing sensitive data such as bank details or passwords.
A low score represents a high level of knowledge about phishing and the use of appropriate protective measures. The data comes from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and relates to the last three months.
Field of investigation 5: Data protection level of social media profiles (social media)
The study examined the data protection competence of social media profiles and content. A high level of data protection prevents personal information from being viewed by companies, users or unauthorized third parties.
Field of investigation 1: Users who have not been affected by viruses in the last 3 months (computer malware)
Investigation field 6: Users not affected by viruses in the last 3 months (computer malware)
This section includes people who have changed the settings in their Internet browser to limit the number of active cookies or to block such cookies altogether. Cookies are text files that contain data such as a username or password to identify your computer when using a computer network. The data stored in a cookie is unique to you and your computer. Deleting cookies erases the information stored in your browser and is useful, for example, if you do not want other people to see your browsing history.
The higher the score, the greater the awareness of users to limit or prevent cookies. The data was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Field of investigation 7: Protection of personal data from advertisers
Advertisers have the option of accessing data on personal characteristics for targeted advertising. Advertisers can do this, for example, via social media or well-known search engines. However, individuals are granted a high degree of control by the GDPR over how advertisers can collect, store and use their data. The higher the score, the better a person can protect their personal data from advertisers. The data was taken from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development from the last twelve months.
Field of investigation 8: Use of anti-tracking software
Anti-tracking software increases the protection of a computer's privacy when browsing the Internet. Anti-tracking tools is able to prevent the transfer of unsafe data to your computer and blocks advertisements that collect users' personal information. A high score means that anti-tracking software is more likely to be used. The data was obtained from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Results and evaluation
To calculate a ranking, all results of the influencing factors examined were normalized. Points on a scale between 0 and 100 were used for this purpose. The age and country that showed itself to be particularly progressive in terms of Internet affinity in the respective influencing factor was given a score of 100. The country or age that showed itself to be least progressive in terms of data privacy measures in the respective influencing factor was given a score of 0.
Then all points from all influencing factors of an investigation field were added. The sum resulted in the investigation field result. Finally, all eight study field results were added together and this final result was also normalized on a point scale between 0 and 100. The normalized final result corresponds to the communicated final ranking.
The calculation was made according to the following normalization formula: x new = x - x minx max - x min
More articles
Penalties and fines in data protection
Learn more
Is your favorite app spying on you, too?
Learn more