- An Incogni survey has found people are becoming more frustrated with the internet
- Users cite AI slop and data leaks as the main reasons for stress and anxiety when using the internet
- Many users want to spend less time online, and are deleting social media profiles and messaging
For years, personal data collection for advertising, tracking, and service improvement was thought to be the fair price to pay to access the world wide web. But now, many people believe that using the internet will lead to their data being leaked or exposed.
A new Incogni survey found more than half of internet users believe their personal data will inevitably be exposed, with 63% stating that this fear causes anxiety when using the internet.
But beyond this, internet users now fear they can no longer tell what is real content uploaded by a human and what is AI generated, not only eroding trust in the internet, but also making people not want to use the internet at all. Almost half of internet users are less sure of what is real on the internet.
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Inevitable data exposure
You’ve likely been prompted thousands of times to accept or reject cookies, or review a privacy policy before using a website. Every cookie you accept will collect data on your browsing habits and behavior on sites in order to display personalized adverts that you are more likely to click. Cookies also help keep you logged in and store your information on websites.
While this helps make many websites across the web free to use for those accessing them, sometimes your data is sold to advertisers or third-parties where it is stored insecurely, and can be stolen or leaked.
Among the 1,000 internet users surveyed, the fear of data exposure was strongest among the Millennials and Gen X generations. 56% of Gen X and 55% of Millennials believed that their data would at some point be breached or exposed, showing just how normal data breaches and exposure have become online.
Just 11% of those surveyed believed there was little likelihood of their data being breached.
AI is making the internet less real
AI content creation has exploded in recent years. Social media sites are full of AI ‘creators’ whose pages either share AI generated content or scrape the internet for content that users are likely to interact with, and share it through their own pages. These profiles require little human input, but can share content at an industrial scale and reap huge rewards from advertisers.
If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you may have seen videos from AI creators all sharing the same captions. “Tonight, V stepped into the crowd..” or “Japan is transforming footsteps into electricity.” These captions use keywords to abuse Instagram’s algorithm on popular topics to drive engagement, regardless of whether the content actually has anything to do with the caption.
But they’re also making it harder to know what is real on the internet.
48% of those surveyed said that they are less sure of what’s real, with 40% also stating that the lack of accountability for deepfake creators was a bother.
Additionally, 27% said that AI generated content made them want to spend less time online, with 16% also saying that navigating an internet full of low quality AI content made them feel more tired or fatigued. Just 8% of respondents said that AI generated content improved their online experience.
There are some positive attitudes to AI content online. 12% said that AI-generated content made information more accessible, with slightly less (11%) saying that they were excited about the creative possibilities AI offers.
Time to go offline?
Attitudes to how long people spend online are also changing. Over half (51%) of Gen Z internet users believe they spend too much time on consuming content on the internet, with 43% of Millennials and 42% of Gen X respondents having a likeminded view.
Whether it’s responding to emails, navigating networking platforms, finding new furniture, or looking for where to go to eat – the internet is now a life requirement for most people. And every time you access another website in work or your personal life, there is more data that could be leaked.
The ultimate effect of this is that people are being driven away from using the internet. 58% of respondents said that they had deleted a social media account or messaging app because of stress, anxiety, or privacy concerns.
“It seems that the costs of engaging with these platforms are starting to outweigh any perceived or actual benefits,” the Incogni survey said.
Or time to pay for privacy?
Incogni also asked if users would be willing to pay for an internet where tracking and algorithms did not exist. 30% of respondents said they would, but this largely relied on income. Those with a higher income were more likely to pay for this ‘private’ internet, while those with a lower income were less likely.
For many internet users, privacy shouldn’t be a luxury, but a guarantee. There is a level of trust involved when sharing personal data with advertisers, and the expectation is that the data won’t be leaked or stolen. Unfortunately, the opinions show that this is far from what’s expected.
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benedict.collins@futurenet.com (Benedict Collins)
