Smartphone Owners Trust Apple More Than Samsung To Protect Their Privacy, Study Finds

Consumers trust Apple iPhones to protect their privacy, according to a study by NordVPN. 

Of those polled, 44% feel safer with the iPhone, and 24% feel more secure with Samsung. In addition, 46% say iOS has the best operating system privacy, versus 38% for Android. Another 16% feel they are equal.  

“While in the past, people may have tended to purchase their computing devices based on the online security they could provide, more and more, people care about their online privacy just as much,” says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN.  

Consumers feel that the top-selling Apple, Samsung and Google brands "are more private than lesser-selling brands," Markuson says.

Overall, 93% of Americans are using smartphones, and 86% claim they know where the privacy settings are.  

However, only 50% have read the privacy policy of their smartphone brand. And 47% check and/or reset their privacy settings after updating their phone’s operating system. 

In addition, 23% never check their privacy settings after operating-system updates. 

Also, 32% say they always check and/or reset their privacy settings after downloading a new app, or updating an existing one. 

Meanwhile, 6% update software only when there is a security risk, and 3% will do so once any users issues with the latest update has been fixed. And 4% never do an update. 

At the same time, 62% do automatic updates and 25% do manual updates when available. 

“While most iPhone users do not have time to review every word in the privacy policy, Apple says it uses your personal data only when they have legal basis to do so, or with your consent,” Markuson says.

The company notes that iOS 14 was a game changer regarding privacy, and that consumers will expect even more improvement with iOS 16. 

 

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