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Millennials Value Speed Over Security, Says Survey (dailydot.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Daily Dot: Millennials stand apart from other Americans in preferring faster Internet access to safer Internet access, according to a new survey. When digital-authentication firm SecureAuth asked people from all age groups whether they would rather be safer online or browse faster online, 57 percent of Americans chose security and 43 percent chose speed. But among millennials, the results were almost reversed: 54 percent chose speed over security. Young people are also more willing than the overall population to share sensitive information over public Wi-Fi connections, which are notoriously insecure as they allow anyone on the network to analyze and intercept passing traffic. While a clear majority (57 percent) of Americans told SecureAuth that they transmitted such information over public Wi-Fi, nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) of millennials said they did so. A surprising 44 percent of millennials believe their data is generally safe from hackers, and millennials are more likely than members of other age groups to share account passwords with friends. Americans overall are paying more attention to some aspects of digital security. An October 2015 study by the wireless industry's trade group found that 61 percent of Americans use passwords on their smartphones and 58 percent use them on their tablets, compared to 50 percent and 48 percent, respectively, in 2012. The recent study lines up with a report published on May 24 that found that the elderly use more secure passwords than millennials.
But of course that's obvious. They've also been indoctrinated by 'social media', the media in general, and corporations that sharing everything is normal, and that 'privacy' is something anomalous, and that only people with something to hide want privacy. The real question is: will they live long enough to learn the error of their ways, and even more to the point, will they learn that before they reproduce and pass on their indoctrinated ways to another generation?
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
COPPA doesn't work very well... kids need education as to what they can do online, they need to know the rules about oversharing when they get started. They should be shown e-mail and texting to people they already know before they learn to publish. Dr. Spock didn't know about this problem in time to write about it.
Yes, it really is that simple. They have no reference to the expectation of privacy and freedom. The surveillance state is normal to them.
[quote]to share sensitive information over public Wi-Fi connections, which are notoriously insecure[/quote]
I've never understood this whole idea - anything sensitive should be going over an encrypted connection anyway. Who cares if some idiot sitting next to me in the coffee shop can sniff it? He can't make heads or tails of it anyway. In the case of a MITM attack set up in the wireless gateway, the certificate validation / host key / other host validation protocols should fail. Adding a VPN connection adds layers of defence, but something that's highly unnecessary for most individuals and data.
Otherwise, I'm probably just browsing sites that don't require logins or any other information from me - in which case, again, there's nothing secret or proprietary there and I don't care if I get sniffed.
It's pointless to teach about (rather important) stuff like VPNs if the recipient isn't willing to listen. It's best to teach values rather than technologies since technologies usually follow values. If you value privacy, you do whatever you can or is practical to enhance and protect your privacy.
-SR
This is not about millennials vs. non-millennials. This is about younger vs. older, in any era.
When we're younger, we're more impatient, more reckless, take more risks, etc. Suffering from the consequences of poor choices helps us to make better ones in the future.
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.