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Do you know what "https://" means? Pew survey proves most Americans don't.
The Pew Research Center just released its recent survey results regarding Americans’ understanding of technology-related issues. According to the study, a majority of adults could only answer about half of the questions correctly. People struggled with the cybersecurity questions most.
The survey results
The research center conducted the survey June 3-17, and it involved the participation of 4,272 adults. The survey was only 10 questions long, but it covered a wide range of digital topics.
Only 20% of surveyed adults answered seven or more questions correctly, and only 2% answered all 10 questions correctly. Americans with college degrees and those under 50 years old typically score higher on technology-related surveys. This survey was no different.
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Participants with a bachelor’s degree or higher answered a median of six questions correctly. Those who attended some college but have not obtained a degree answered approximately four questions correctly. Adults with a high school diploma or less answered about three questions correctly.
Where Americans struggled
The above chart shows participants answered the majority of cybersecurity questions incorrectly. Only three out of 10 of them knew that “https://” means the information they share with that site is encrypted. Less than 30% knew how to identify what two-factor authentication was.
About one-fourth didn’t know private browsing only hides browser history while less than half didn’t even know what private browsing was.
Not all was lost, though. The majority of adults surveyed were knowledgeable about phishing scams, cookies, and web trackers. Most of those surveyed even knew the relationship between social media platforms and advertising even though they couldn’t identify a picture of Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey.
Head over to the Pew Research Center’s website to see more details about the technology survey.
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