Safer Internet Day

The Internet enables access to information, communication, online shopping, management of finances, use of video and audio content, and work from home. There is also an increase in the number of Internet-connected smart devices, e.g. smart watches, robot vacuums, smart cameras, smart sockets, smart lights that can be operated from anywhere, anytime. When using the Internet the users leave digital traces and the users of various mobile applications knowingly or unknowingly allow them access to various private data. With the increased usage of the Internet, safe usage of the Internet is becoming the key skill. This year the Safer Internet Day will be held on 5 February 2019 under the slogan: Together for a better Internet.

Internet access via smartphone predominates with regular Internet users

In the first quarter of 2018, 87% of households in Slovenia had Internet access and 80% of individuals aged 16–74 regularly used the Internet. Regular users accessed the Internet most often via a smartphone (85%) (in EU-28: 87%). This way of access was most often used by 25–34-year-olds (97%), followed by 16–24-year-olds (96%), and by 35–44-year-olds (93%), and the least by 65–74-year-olds (54%).

63% of regular Internet users accessed the Internet via a portable device (in EU-28: 62%), 48% via desktop (in EU-28: 49%) and 25% via a tablet computer (in EU-28: 41%). 4% of regular Internet users accessed the Internet via other mobile devices, e.g. games players, e-readers, a smart watch (in EU-28: 13%). The share was the highest among 16–24-year-olds (8%).

How did the users of the Internet take care of the security when using smartphones in the last 12 months?

More than half of smartphone users used security software (antivirus, antispam or firewall) installed or provided by the operating system

87% of individuals aged 16–74 years who used the Internet in the last 12 months used a smartphone (in EU-28: 86%) in the first quarter in 2018. 57% of those users used on their smartphones software (antivirus, antispam or firewall) that is installed automatically or provided by the operating system (in EU-28: 43%) and 10% of them security software that they installed or subscribed to by themselves or somebody else did it for them (in EU-28: 15%). 16% of the smartphone users did not use any security software and 20% didn’t know if their smartphone had any security software installed.

More than a quarter of smartphone users neither restricted nor refused access to personal data when using or installing mobile applications

Smartphone users can install different software or mobile applications on their devices. With these they grant to these mobile applications or apps access to their private data and provide them with the possibility to gather various private data, e.g. location, contact lists. In certain cases, this access is not necessary for the usage of an application, e.g. access to the location data (GPS) when using flashlight.

51% of smartphone users aged 16–74 that used the Internet in the last 12 months restricted or refused access to their personal data to applications they used or installed (in EU-28: 58%), 29% never restricted or refused this access (in EU-28: 28%), while 8% did not know that this was even possible (in EU-28: 7%).

Regarding the age of the smartphone users, 66% of 16–24-year-olds, 61% of 25–34-year-olds, 51% of 35–44-year-olds, 43% of 45–54-year-olds, 34% of 55–64-year-olds and 29% of 65–74-year-olds restricted or refused mobile applications access to personal data.

The share of individuals who did not know that it was possible to restrict or refuse mobile applications access to personal data was the highest (13%) among 55–64-year-olds and 65–74-year-olds (12%), and the lowest (4%) among 16–24-year-olds.

Loss of information, documents or other data on smartphone due to a virus or other hostile software

Various data are stored on smartphones, e.g. from pictures, messages to usernames and passwords for used Internet services, e.g. e-mail, social networks.

4% of smartphone users who used the Internet in the last 12 months already lost information, documents, pictures or other kind of data on their smartphone as a result of a virus or other hostile software (in EU-28: 5%).
Information, documents, pictures or other kind of data on their smartphone were lost by 5% of 16–24-year-olds and the same share of 25–34-year-olds, 4% of 35–44-year-olds and 45–54-year-olds, and 3% of 55–64-year-olds.

Which are the most often used electronic identification procedures with users of the Internet in the last 12 months?

Simple login with username and password is the most frequently used electronic identification procedure for Internet services

When using various Internet services, e.g. e-mail, social networks, e-government services, online shopping, various electronic identification procedures are used to prove the identity of the individual and, according to the type of procedure used, to guarantee for the content of the information provided and to electronically sign with them.

In the first quarter of 2018, 94% of Internet users in the last 12 months most often used simple login with username and password (in EU-28: 81%). 34% used social media login (e.g. sign with Facebook) also for other services (in EU-28: 33%). 24% used a procedure involving their mobile phone (a code received via an SMS-message) (in EU-28: 44%), 21% used an electronic identification certificate or card used with a card reader (in EU-28: 17%), 16% used a security token (a device in a physical or electronic form that generates passwords), which is the same as the EU-28 average and a single use pin code list (personal identification numbers) or random characters of a password, e.g. additional security password when validating  e-banking payments (in EU-28: 30%).