Survey of 4,272 US adults shows patchy knowledge on tech issues: many answered correctly on cookies and phishing, few knew about 2FA, https, or private browsing
This survey extends a Pew arc running since at least 2015, when [[a:829382|69% of US adults said they were not confident social networks would keep their data private and secure]]. The 2016 follow-up found [[a:869582|45% of online households had refrained from some online activities over security and privacy concerns]] — so users were already acting on fear without necessarily acting on knowledge.
What the new 4,272-person survey adds is the mechanism behind that gap: people score well on visible, everyday concepts like cookies and phishing but poorly on invisible infrastructure like 2FA, HTTPS, and private browsing. Weeks later, Pew reported that [[a:947954|about 60% of adults believe they cannot avoid data collection by corporations or government]] — distrust is high while the tools of self-defense remain unknown.
First-order effects
Users who cannot recognize 2FA, HTTPS, or private browsing cannot deploy them, so the survey effectively maps where US adults are unprotected despite available tools — while their stronger phishing scores show knowledge follows visible prompts, not hidden mechanisms.
Second-order effects
Platforms and security vendors absorb the cost of that ignorance: with users unable to self-protect, the pressure moves toward default-on protections and simpler security UX, and the trust deficit documented since 2015 gives those companies less benefit of the doubt when breaches occur.
Third-order effects
If the knowledge gap persists across successive Pew waves, the policy and design burden keeps shifting from user education to regulated defaults and platform obligations — a structural move from 'teach users security' to 'build security users cannot opt out of'.
The trend: A decade of Pew findings shows US adults' distrust of tech companies rising faster than their technical literacy, pushing the security burden from individual users toward platform defaults and regulators.
Pew's new survey on our lack of knowledge of the Internet, privacy, and Jack Dorsey's face, reads like a “Congratulations!” to Facebook, data-oriented corporate interests and foreign operatives. https://www.pewinternet.org/ ... https://twitter.com/...
Most Americans don't know Insta/WhatsApp are Facebook owned, which is going to be a hell of a headache potentially for antitrust regulators https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Only 24% of Americans are aware that “private browsing” or “incognito mode” only hides online activity from other individuals using the same computer. https://www.pewinternet.org/ ...
67% of U.S. adults know that phishing scams can occur across multiple platforms, including email, text messages, social media or websites. https://www.pewinternet.org/ ...
Only 29% of US adults (and 41% of those with a college degree) know WhatsApp and Instagram are owned by Facebook, according to new @pewinternet survey. https://www.pewinternet.org/ ... https://twitter.com/...
A very cool survey of Americans and tech knowledge from @pewinternet 15% of Americans can correctly identify @jack, and others https://www.pewinternet.org/ ...
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Americans: 67% get phishing 63% get cookies 59% know ads = majority revenue on social 48% get privacy policies 45% get net neutrality 30% get HTTPS 29% know Facebook owns Instagram and WhatsApp 28% can identify 2FA 24% get private browsing 15% know @jack https://www.pewinternet.o…
Young adults get more of these digital knowledge questions correct than older adults. And those with higher levels of education do better, too. Test your own digital savvy in @Pewinternet's quiz and see how you compare with other Americans https://www.pewresearch.org/ ...
this new Pew survey is really great, but i *love* this: “Still, the largest share of ‘unsure’ responses comes on the question in which respondents are presented with a photo of Jack Dorsey: 77% report being unsure of whom the photo depicts.” https://www.pewinternet.org/ ...
There are big differences in levels of digital knowledge by education. For example, college educated Americans are nearly 2X as likely as those w/a HS diploma or less to correctly ID what a privacy policy entails (64% vs. 34%) https://pewrsr.ch/2oYHRJf @pewresearch pic.twitter.co…
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NEW: Americans' understanding of technology-related issues varies greatly depending on the topic, term or concept. A majority of U.S. adults can correctly answer questions about phishing scams or website cookies, but other items are more challenging. https://pewrsr.ch/35kDs3X pic…
A new @PewInternet survey shows the digital knowledge of Americans is uneven at best: https://www.pewinternet.org/ ... To increase societal resilience against disinformation & fraud, high school curricula should teach civic literacy, digital literacy, & statistical literacy. http…