Digital privacy: Spaniards are worried about their privacy and personal data. Citizens from the Mediterranean country consider privacy a crucial factor when purchasing technology more than any other EU nation. Overall, privacy is a topic that concerns the vast majority of the population and one for which they are demanding more education. Nearly nine out of ten Europeans (88%) feel concerned about their privacy. In the case of Spain, the figure rises to 93%, consolidating the country as the most concerned in Europe on this matter.

Spain also tops the list of countries where privacy management causes the most stress: 88% of respondents claim to feel stressed by this issue, surpassing the European average of 75%.

Furthermore, 72% of Spaniards feel very overwhelmed, compared to 49% of the European average. This concern, however, tends to be focused solely on smartphones, despite the fact that many other smart home devices also collect personal data and are equally vulnerable to threats. These data are drawn from the privacy is Power research, promoted by Samsung Electronics and conducted by FleishmanHillard True Global Intelligence and Focaldata, in light of the advance of smart technology and the growing presence of artificial intelligence in people’s daily lives.

“This research highlights a growing trend: while consumers are proactive about managing privacy on their smartphones, they’re often overlooking the broader ecosystem of connected devices,” highlights Seungwon Shin, corporate EVP and head of the security team at Samsung Electronics. “It also reflects a hesitation to fully embrace AI-powered experiences, largely driven by uncertainty around data use,” he underscores.

Smart appliances, a privacy weak spot

The study, carried out among 8,284 European consumers aged between 18 and 43, including more than one thousand participants from Spain, also highlights an awareness gap: while 60% of young Spaniards think daily about the privacy of their mobile phone (49% in Europe), more than one third (32%) do not pay attention to the security of their smart appliances, an oversight that affects 36% of Europeans.

In Spain, this trend is even more pronounced among younger consumers, who admit that they struggle to understand how to protect their privacy beyond mobile phone use.

Moreover, 20% of Spaniards (in line with the general European perception) consider digital privacy to be an overly complex topic, and only 14% feel truly informed about how their data is handled, compared to the 13% European average. In Spain, this knowledge gap translates into a demand for better education on data and privacy, as requested by 75% of citizens, exceeding the 67% European average.

Data out of control?

On the other hand, only 57% of Spaniards actually know what data their devices collect (48% across Europe), while 68% of Spaniards feel that they will never be able to have full control over their digital privacy, a perception higher than the 64% of Europeans. This distrust also impacts the adoption of new technologies: 20% of Spaniards state that they have not shared data between smart devices for fear of security breaches, a figure slightly above the 18% recorded at the European level.

However, 65% of Spaniards, compared to 62% of Europeans, state that they would be more willing to adopt technologies with artificial intelligence if they better understood their benefits and felt that their data was protected.