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“Looking at the last 20 years, the US is the 1st worldwide, with 4.4B compromised user accounts. This problem has become so widespread that people are losing millions to various cybercrimes. While you might expect people to take precautions, a paradox emerges: even those who actively protect against data breaches, credit card fraud, identity theft, phishing, and other cyberthreats often lack sufficient education on the subject. They continue to use data-hungry apps on their smartphones, which can still increase the possibility of these cybercrimes," explains Luís Costa, Research Lead at Surfshark.

Who is most concerned about their privacy in the US?
Surfshark surveyed US residents and found that 41% indicated they are very or extremely concerned about online privacy. A significantly higher concern for online privacy is expressed among people who have higher education (e.g., a Master’s degree or higher), use such online privacy tools as VPNs, and have children in their households.

Millennials stand out in terms of privacy consciousness, but their behavior does not necessarily reflect this
Out of all people, Millennials are the most privacy-educated and privacy-conscious group. They are more aware of how companies collect and use their personal data, understand the risks of sharing information online, etc. Overall, people in the 25-34 age group are the most privacy-policy-conscious: they significantly more often self-report that they review and adjust privacy settings on their devices and accounts (21% do it almost always), check app permissions before installing them on their phone (27% almost always), and read what data an app will collect before installing it (25% almost always).
Despite all of that, Millennials have significantly more apps that are data-hungry. Surfshark asked which apps people have on their phones from a list of 48 popular apps, selected for their popularity and how data hungry they are. They were grouped into the following categories: AI and chat bots, banking and finance, games, health and fitness, privacy and education, shopping, social network, travel and food. On average, these apps collect 21 unique data points, but some as many as 32 — nearly the maximum amount of 35. And some even share gathered information with third parties.

Millennials are significantly more likely than the overall sample to have at least one app of each category on their phones. For example:
• Over half (55%) of Millennials had at least one game app, compared to 42% of participants from the overall sample. This is concerning, as gaming apps are not necessary to use, just nice to have, and they collect a vast amount of data.
• Out of all generations, more Millennials had the Pokémon GO app, a game that collects precise and coarse location, than any other generation. This is significantly higher (19%) than the proportion of people who have this app in the overall sample (11%), as well as the highest proportion among all generation groups.
• A similar trend was noted regarding the app Candy Crush Saga, a mobile game which collects 16 unique data points, with significantly more Millennials having it on their phones, as well as the dating app Bumble, which collects 22 unique data points.
• Almost all Millennials use social media apps (98%). The least popular apps are AI & chatbots — only 39% have at least one of them.

What to do to change the privacy paradox?
According to L. Costa, protecting yourself from data-hungry phone apps involves a combination of careful app management, privacy settings adjustments, and awareness of app permissions. Here are some steps you can take to safeguard your personal data:
• App permissions: review app permissions before installing. Only grant permissions that are absolutely necessary for the app’s core functionality, and evoke permissions that seem excessive.
• App selection: download apps only from trusted sources, like Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. Check app reviews and ratings for any red flags or complaints about data misuse.
• Privacy settings: use privacy settings available on your phone to limit data collection. For example, disable location services or set them to be used only when the app is in use. Turn off background data usage for apps that don’t need continuous access.
• Regular updates: keep your apps and operating system updated to benefit from the latest security patches and enhancements.
• Third-party tools: consider using VPNs and firewalls on your phone to control data access and protect your connection.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA): enable 2FA for apps that offer it to add an additional layer of security for account logins.
By being proactive and mindful about the apps you use and how they access your data, you can greatly enhance your privacy and reduce the risk of data overreach.

METHODOLOGY
We surveyed 1,000 US participants (50% male, 50% female) — 97% had at least a high school diploma, of which 32% had a bachelor’s degree. Most (59%) lived in a big city, the capital, or the suburbs, and 41% were hired workers (paid employment). In our sample, 20% were Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012), 31% were millennials (1981-1996), 27% were Gen X (1965-1980), and 22% were baby boomers (1946-1964). Nearly one-third (30%) said they use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
The data collection information for each app was sourced from the US Apple App Store page on April 15, 2025. The list of apps was generated by selecting the 100 most popular apps, then grouping them into categories so we could select a smaller number of apps within each category corresponding to those which collected the most unique data points, arriving at a final list of 48 apps. The App Store provides a list of 35 unique data points categorized into 16 unique data point categories.