The level of data protection in Germany is far too low, according to 37 percent of Germans. On the contrary, according to 35 percent, who rate it as far too high. These contrary results were brought to light by the "Data Protection Report 2022/23", which is based on a current survey by the Hamburg high-security data service provider TeamDrive GmbH.
Study director Detlef Schmuck explains what appears to be a paradoxical range of opinions at first glance: “Most people want their personal data to be protected. But they don't think that current legislation is suitable for this.” The data security expert gives an example: “It seems like a joke that on every website you have to click away the privacy policy before you can get to the content. No one can seriously expect to read the legal explanations every time. It's this kind of pseudo-privacy that frustrates a lot of people.” So it's hardly surprising that, according to the survey, only 12 percent rate the current level of data protection as “just right”.
Two-thirds: privacy is an important legal asset
Two thirds of those surveyed describe the protection of their privacy in the digital world as an "important legal right for all of us". “The majority of the population does not want to get digitally naked in front of government agencies or the advertising industry. But the prevailing feeling is that the bureaucratic effort associated with data protection ultimately does not lead to more privacy,” Detlef Schmuck interprets the survey results. He points out that a whopping 60 percent of those surveyed condemn the applicable General Data Protection Regulation as a "bureaucratic monster".
Data security expert Detlef Schmuck shows a way out of this dilemma: “Data protection must be implemented in such a way that it works without the user having to worry about it. For example, many people would like their agreement to the data protection of a website to be valid permanently or at least for a longer period of time, instead of having to agree each time with a click. The principle applies: the technology behind it may be as complex as it may be, but from the user’s point of view everything has to appear as simple as possible.”
EU-wide data protection is “right and important”
After all, almost half (48 percent) consider the creation of a uniform data protection standard in the countries of the European Union to be "right and important". Only a good tenth rejects this standardization. 44 percent expressly support the creation of an EU-wide data space, i.e. a transnational EU cloud, which per se corresponds to the high level of protection of the European Union.
"A secure environment in which one can rely on the protection of privacy being given a high priority would be of great benefit," says Detlef Schmuck. At the same time, he warns: “However, the most recent efforts by the EU Commission are aimed more at giving European authorities access to digital privacy. In this case, a European data room would be a mockery of the desire for privacy in the digital world.”
More at Teamdrive.com.com
About TeamDrive TeamDrive is regarded as "secure Sync&Share software made in Germany" for storing, synchronizing and sharing data and documents. The basis is a consistent end-to-end encryption that ensures that only the user himself can read the data - neither TeamDrive nor any authority in the world can decrypt the data. More than 500.000 users and more than 5.500 companies from all sectors appreciate this technical and legally binding security.