Publications

Majorities of U.S. adults believe their personal data is less secure now, that data collection poses more risks than benefits, and that it is not possible to go through daily life without being tracked.

In 1969, a team of UCLA graduate students led by professor Leonard Kleinrock connected computer-to-computer with a team at the Stanford Research Institute. It was the first host-to-host communication of ARPANET, the early packet-switching network that was the precursor to today’s multibillion-host internet. Heading into the network’s 50th anniversary, Pew Research Center and Elon University’s […]

Fifty years after the first computer network was connected, most experts say digital life will mostly change things for the better in coming decades. But they say this will require reforms toward better cooperation and security, basic rights and economic fairness.

Test your knowledge on digital topics and terms by taking our 10-question quiz, then see how your answers compare to our nationally-representative survey.

A majority of U.S. adults can answer fewer than half the questions correctly on a digital knowledge quiz, and many struggle with certain cybersecurity and privacy questions

Roughly a quarter of American adults say they haven’t read a book in the past year. Who are these non-book readers?

Americans are spreading their book consumption across several formats, and the use of audiobooks is on the rise.

Millennials have often led older Americans in their adoption and use of technology. But there has also been significant growth in tech adoption in recent years among older generations.

The ability of governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor the public using facial recognition was once the province of dystopian science fiction. But modern technology is increasingly bringing versions of these scenarios to life.

How many U.S. adults use the internet? There are a lot of sources with answers to this question. Yet these different sources can be tricky to reconcile.