Kaspersky's recent report has revealed that 38% of consumers would give up their social media accounts to guarantee their data remains private for the rest of their lives. The report outlines how and why consumers' personal information is becoming incredibly valuable to them. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190701/2513939-1 Social media services have become a significant part of our lives. However, despite these various benefits, some would still opt out of social media if it helped to restore their digital privacy forever. At a time when the number of mobile phone users is rising 2% year-on-year (https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new- global-social-media-research/), one-in-five (19%) would be ready to wave goodbye to their handsets altogether to guarantee their data remains private for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, even sacrificing one's entire social media presence wouldn't be sufficient to protect digital privacy. It's a process, not a one-time deal that can be bargained for. "Several years ago, people shared their private information with social media services in exchange for various benefits, without even thinking about the potential threats and their consequences. With a rising number of data leaks around the world, we are seeing a new trend amongst consumers. While many prefer not to have certain facts about themselves revealed in public, the majority still don't know how to protect their digital privacy and would give up social media to guarantee their information remains secure. Keeping personal information safe by regularly updating social media account passwords and using security solutions will give consumers more confidence in the security of their data online," comments Noushin Shabab, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky. In order to keep your digital privacy safe, Kaspersky recommends following some simple steps: Regularly check your media privacy settings and choose strong passwords. Don't open or store unfamiliar files as they could be malicious. Don't be fooled by suspicious people promising valuables in exchange for your personal data. Start using reliable security solutions including utilities that minimize the risks of privacy violation such as Kaspersky Security Cloud (https://www.kaspersky.com/security-cloud) and Kaspersky Password Manager (https://www.kaspersky.com/password-manager). To find out more about how consumers feel about their privacy, visit: https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/privacy-report-2019/ SOURCE: Kaspersky Lab