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People Are Concerned About Their Privacy In Theory, Not Practice, Says New Study (fortune.com)
A new privacy survey from IBM's Institute for Business Value found that 81% of consumers say they've become more concerned about how companies use their data, while 87% think companies should be more heavily regulated on personal data management. Three-quarters of the people felt like they were less likely to trust companies with data and 89% said companies should be clearer about how their products use data. Given these findings, you'd think people would take actions in response to companies losing or misusing their data -- but they're not. Fortune reports: 71% said that they were willing to give up privacy to get access to what technology can offer. Only 45% have updated their privacy settings on products in response and 16% walked away from a company because of data misuse. It's already been clear that one reasons for big data leaks is because there is little financial risk to companies, as Motherboard reported. This new data suggests that companies have even less to worry about, as most people are willing to keep doing business with them.
People are concerned also in practice, not just in theory. But many lack the will power or are outright too lazy to take the appropriate measures.
Saying that people are not practically concerned about privacy is like saying smokers are not practically concerned about their health. Most definitely are, they are just too addicted and lack the will power to quit that known hazardous habit.