• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 15, 2020

From social networks to news publications to financial tools, privacy concerns are discouraging a majority of consumers from signing up for new products and services.

That’s according to the Pew Research Center, which found that 52% of U.S. adults said they recently decided not to use a product or service — worried about how much personal information would be collected about them.

Specifically, 21% of respondents said they decided not to use particular Web sites due to privacy concerns, while a smaller share (11%) said they decided not to use certain electronics.

Similar shares said they avoided social media or specific services such as DNA ancestry kits, financial tools or health care, Pew found.

Respondents’ most cited concern was they felt forced to share personal information (15%) in order to get access to a particular product or service.

Representing the second- and third-most-cited concerns, 9% of respondents said a particular product or service seemed “untrustworthy,” while 8% said they were worried about “surveillance.”

Of note, only a small fraction of respondents mentioned concerns around providing payment information, potential third-party involvement, and the risk of spam. Also of note, key demographic information impacted people’s perceptions about privacy.

For example, 55% of college graduates and adults with some college education said they had decided not to use a product or service because of privacy concerns, compared with the 45% of those with a high-school diploma or less formal education.

Additionally, 54% of adults with an annual household income of $75,000 or more annually shared this concern, compared with 48% of those who make $30,000 or less.

Less surprisingly, consumers who had been negatively impacted by a privacy breach in the past said they were less willing to share their personal information in the future. For instance, those who said someone attempted to open a line of credit or apply for a loan using their name were more likely than those who did not experience this to say they decided not to use a product or service out of privacy concerns (64% vs. 51%).

A similar pattern existed when comparing those who said someone took over their social media or email account without their permission and those who did not experience this (63% vs. 51%).