Mobile privacy: banking and text messages top concerns

54% of smartphone owners have taken steps to protect their personal data on their mobile phone, according to new research from the Internet Advertising Bureau.

The report, supported by Weve, found that while 46% of the 2,000 respondents surveyed had concerns about privacy when using internet and apps on their mobile, the biggest worry for consumers was companies having access to the content of personal text messages and financial information.

Measures such as deleting text messages (50%) and browser history (45%) were found to be much more commonplace than those related to advertising, such as opting out of sharing data with third party companies (23%) and opting out of tailored marketing messages (29%).

Just 44% of smartphone owners were aware that companies use data to serve relevant content to them, however a much greater proportion (71%) said they wanted to know how to control mobile data privacy. 75% said they wanted companies that hold their data to be clear about the ways in which it is used.

“When it comes to mobile devices, privacy means a lot of different things in different contexts to people,” said the IAB’s public policy manager, Alex Scott.

“From this research we also know that consumers are taking measures to address these specific privacy concerns themselves.

“However, the study also shows consumers crave clarity on data collection and what it’s used for. We have a collective responsibility to give consumers more control; as such we’re working to address transparency and control for mobile advertising privacy to give consumers a consistent experience across devices.”