The FINANCIAL — As teens gain access to mobile devices, they have embraced app downloading. But many teen apps users have taken steps to uninstall or avoid apps over concern about their privacy. Location information is considered especially sensitive to teen girls, as a majority of them have disabled location tracking features on cell phones and in apps because they are worried about others’ access to that information, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Here are some of the key findings in a new survey of U.S. teens ages 12-17: 58% of all teens have downloaded apps to their cell phone or tablet computer. 51% of teen apps users have avoided certain apps due to privacy concerns. 26% of teen apps users have uninstalled an app because they learned it was collecting personal information that they didn’t wish to share. 46% of teen apps users have turned off location tracking features on their cell phone or in an app because they were worried about the privacy of their information.
In focus group discussions with teens, participants said they primarily downloaded social media and game apps to their phones and tablets, though they also downloaded apps relating to music, news, and the weather. When choosing which apps to download, participants stated that they typically downloaded free ones, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Survey data suggests that some of these activities vary significantly by gender. Boys stand out as the most active app downloaders, but girls are the most likely to disable location tracking features on their phones and in apps.
Boys who are mobile device owners are more likely than girls to say that they have downloaded an app to their cell phone or tablet computer (79% vs. 62%). Among teen apps users, girls are considerably more likely than boys to say that they have disabled location tracking features (59% vs. 37%), according to the report.
“Teens are on the front lines of figuring out the complex world of privacy management of on their mobile devices,” said Mary Madden, Senior Researcher for the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project and lead author of the report. “They realize that cell phones can be used to monitor their whereabouts, and they will avoid apps if they feel like the data requests are unnecessary or excessive,” she added.
Half (51%) of teen apps users say that they have decided not to install a cell phone or tablet app after they found out they would have to share personal information in order to use it. Younger teen apps users ages 12-13 are more likely than older teen apps users 14-17 to say that they have avoided apps due to concerns about personal information sharing (56% vs. 49%), according to Pew Internet & American Life Project.
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