Privacy concerns are fuelling a mobile revolt, as millions of consumers ditch apps when they discover that they are being used to collect too much personal and private information.
According to the Pew Internet Project, this has led to 54% of mobile users deciding not to install certain apps, while 30% have uninstalled an app over privacy worries.
Mary Madden, a research associate and co-author of the report, said: “As mobile applications become an increasingly important gateway to online services and communications, users’ mobile phones have become rich repositories that chronicle their lives.
“The way a mobile application handles personal data is a feature that many phone owners now take into consideration when choosing the apps they will use.”
The survey said that many users are concerned that their phones could be lost or stolen and are taking steps to deal with such a scenario.
Some 41% of mobile owners back up the photos, contacts, and other files on their phone and 32% have cleared the browsing history or search history on their phone.
In addition, 19% of owners have turned off the location tracking feature on their device because of concern about others accessing that information.
Aaron Smith, a report co-author, added: “The wealth of intimate details stored on smartphones makes them akin to the personal diaries of the past – the information they contain is hard to replace if lost, and potentially embarrassing in the wrong hands.”
