What is the National Privacy Test?
The National Privacy Test evaluates how people in different countries understand online security and privacy issues. The test scores internet users’ digital habits, digital privacy awareness, and digital risk tolerance.
Top 5 insights into the National Privacy Test
Leaders, results, and cybersecurity trends — learn about them in this 2-minute video.
Methodology
NordVPN launched an open-access survey National Privacy Test in November, 2020. 48,063 respondents from 192 countries responded to 20 questions that evaluated their online privacy skills and knowledge. Drilling down to an individual country level, analysis was performed only on countries where the number of respondents was higher than 400.
People around the world
Results.
Digital habits
Do not read the Terms of Service before clicking “Agree”
Respondents prefer to skip the walls of text, even though these agreements provide essential information about data security and privacy practices. Don’t skip and agree!
Do not understand how privacy tools work
46.2% of respondents believe that incognito mode increases their online privacy. It doesn’t. Incognito mode leaves your internet activity visible to your ISP or the websites you visit.
Carefully manage their app permissions
Before allowing an app to use their data, respondents judge whether the app actually needs it to function. If the access is not necessary, they deny the request.
Privacy awareness
Do not grasp the dangers of Internet of Things devices
Internet of Things (IoT) devices are trailing behind other internet-enabled devices in terms of security. IoT devices can discreetly record audio and video, they are poorly encrypted, and there’s no standardized way to control them.
Know how to set up a strong password
Strong passwords should include lowercase and uppercase letters, punctuation, numbers, and symbols. Whenever possible, they should be at least 14 characters long. Most importantly, every account should have a unique password.
Digital risk tolerance
Do not know how to properly react to online blackmail
Even if someone claims they’ve infected your devices and provides your own password as proof, you should never respond to such emails or provide more information. Immediately change the compromised password, report the email as spam and, if necessary, contact the authorities.
Know how to properly react to phishing emails sent by their “bank”
If you receive such a strange request from your bank about providing sensitive data or transferring your funds, contact your bank directly to make sure it is not a phishing attempt. Never dial the number provided in an email — trust only legitimate sources.
Download free PDF with in-depth country data
We’ve analyzed scores from 21 countries with the highest number of respondents
Find the detailed country-by-country data in the PDF below. You’ll download an in-depth analysis of the results from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, the USA.
Digital privacy outliers
Profiles
Models based on common characteristics of respondents.
Amy
Cybersecurity is her native language.
Amy
Cybersecurity is her native language.
Age: 45-54
Occupation: IT
Marital status: single or in a domestic partnership, no children
Should be more aware of:
- What tools to use to become more private online (60/100).
- How to secure their home Wi-Fi network (71.5/100).
- Which types of data internet providers collect as part of metadata (81.8/100).
- The importance of reading terms of service of apps and online services (84.7/100).
- Privacy and security issues common in internet-enabled devices (86.7/100).
Understands:
- How to respond after a notification that an unknown device has tried to log into their email account (100/100).
- What to do when an email from a bank informs that someone withdrew money from their account (100/100).
- The dangers of saving their credit card details in their browser (99.6/100).
- Which data to share with their apps via app permissions (99.6/100).
- How their devices might get infected with malware (99.5/100).
Zack
Cybersecurity is his native language.
Zack
Cybersecurity is his native language.
Age: 30-54
Occupation: IT / the public sector
Marital status: domestic partnership, no children
Should be more aware of:
- What tools to use to become more private online (60.8/100).
- The importance of reading terms of service of apps and online services (72.3).
- Which types of data internet providers collect as part of metadata (78.8/100).
- How to secure their home Wi-Fi network (88.4/100).
- Privacy and security issues common in internet-enabled devices (89.2/100).
Understands:
- What to do when an email from a bank informs that someone withdrew money from their account (100/100).
- How to respond after a notification that an unknown device has tried to log into their email account (99.9/100).
- Which data to share with their apps via app permissions (99.8/100).
- How to deal with fishy Netflix or Spotify deals found on online shopping platforms (99.8/100).
- How their devices might get infected with malware (99.2/100).
Joan
Cybersecurity is not her forte.
Joan
Cybersecurity is not her forte.
Age: 15-44
Occupation: education / manufacturing / construction / transportation / trade
Marital status: Married/domestic partnership or single, with children
Should be more aware of:
- What tools to use to become more private online (15.4/100).
- How to identify a phishing website (25/100).
- How to secure their home Wi-Fi network (25.8/100).
- Privacy and security issues common in internet-enabled devices (25.9/100).
- The ways to mask a fake URL and make it look legitimate (26.3/100).
Understands:
- How to create a strong password (60.6/100).
- What to do when an email from a bank informs that someone withdrew money from their account (58/100).
- The dangers of saving their credit card details in their browser (56.6/100).
- How to respond after a notification that an unknown device has tried to log into their email account (52.9/100).
- How their devices might get infected with malware (49/100).
Michael
Cybersecurity is not his forte.
Michael
Cybersecurity is not his forte.
Age: up to 30 / more than 65
Occupation: education / manufacturing / construction / transportation / trade / leisure and hospitality / student / unemployed / retired
Marital status: separated / widowed / married or single, with children
Should be more aware of:
- The importance of reading terms of service of apps and online services (16/100).
- Privacy and security issues common in internet-enabled devices (19.4/100).
- What tools to use to become more private online (22.9/100).
- The ways to mask a fake URL and make it look legitimate (23.9/100).
- How to secure their home Wi-Fi network (24/100).
Understands:
- What to do when an email from a bank informs that someone withdrew money from their account (81.4/100).
- How to create a strong password (74.4/100).
- How to deal with fishy Netflix or Spotify deals found on online shopping platforms (69.1/100).
- Which sensitive data to avoid sharing on social media (61.6/100).
- The dangers of saving their credit card details in their browser (61.4/100).
Key findings
Industry Map
| NPT score: more than 80 | NPT score: less than 50 | Net score | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government, public sector | 14.9% | 13.0% | 2% |
| Education | 9.4% | 23.9% | -15% |
| Health services | 11.4% | 19.1% | -8% |
| Manufacturing | 9.9% | 19.1% | -9% |
| Construction | 8.2% | 22.9% | -15% |
| Financial services | 12.5% | 14.0% | -2% |
| Trade, transportation | 9.3% | 17.8% | -9% |
| Student | 9.6% | 19.9% | -10% |
| Leisure and hospitality | 7.8% | 21.9% | -14% |
| Information technology | 23.8% | 5.2% | 19% |
| Media, press, communications, marketing | 10.8% | 13.4% | -3% |
| Unemployed, retired | 7.9% | 17.6% | -10% |
Top 5 weak spots in cybersecurity education
1. 34% of respondents proceed without paying any attention to the terms of service in apps and online services they use. 2. 49% of respondents believe that clearing browsing history makes them more private online (it certainly doesn’t). 3. 40% of respondents don’t know that Facebook can collect their personal data even if they don’t have a Facebook account. 4. 29% of respondents do not update their apps as soon as the update is available. 5. 15% of respondents have no problem sharing their personal details (name, email address) on Instagram or other social media platforms.
Media assets
National Privacy Test resources for journalists and media outlets.
