Majority of users unaware how Facebook uses personal data
Most uses of social media in Flanders don’t know what the privacy policies are or how their data is being used, according to a new study
New website launched for parents
Researchers surveyed some 1,800 people over the last eight months. In general, most respondents are suspicious of Facebook and Google using their data, and 86% would like to know more about privacy policies.
Youngsters have considerably less interest in privacy issues. Only one in three knows that they can rely on help from the privacy commission in cases of a breach of privacy, while two in three older than 35 are aware of that.
The experts also discovered that 80% of Flemish residents do not know regulations around product placement and only 8% can estimate how much they contribute to the funding of public broadcaster VRT. Overall, residents seem to have little faith in the media industry and the regulation of it as a whole.
About 60% of those surveyed said that training on media policy should be included in primary and secondary education. Flanders’ centre for media literacy, Mediawijs, launched the new platform MediaNest to assist parents on media issues.
