Mary Madden

Many Americans want control over their personal information and freedom from observation during the activities of their daily lives, but they are not confident that the government agencies or businesses that collect data about them can keep that information private and secure.

54% of Americans say it would be difficult to find the tools and strategies that would enhance their privacy online and when using cellphones, according to a Pew Research Center report.

Nearly two years after Snowden's revelations, 87% of Americans say they have heard about U.S. surveillance programs. Among them, 25% say they have changed their own technological behaviors in some way.

While Facebook remains the most popular social media site, other platforms — like LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter — saw higher rates of growth over the past year. In 2014, 52% of online adults used two or more social media sites, up from 42% in 2013.

A majority of Americans feel that their privacy is being challenged along such core dimensions as the security of their personal information and their ability to retain confidentiality.

Growing numbers of online Americans have had important personal information stolen and many have had an account compromised.

Mary Madden presented at a meeting convened at the University of Michigan to discuss the current state/future direction of research looking at older adults and tech use.

Today marks Google’s 15th birthday, which has prompted many users to reflect on what it was like to use the search engine circa 1998. We took the opportunity to look back at Americans’ habits to “Google themselves” during the first decade of the search engine’s life and found that, after an initial increase, the activity […]

86% of online adults have taken steps to avoid surveillance by other people or organizations when using the internet. Despite precautions, 21% have had an email or social media account hijacked and 11% have had vital information stolen.

58% of American teens have downloaded an app to a cell phone or tablet. More than half of teen apps users have avoided an app due to concerns about sharing their personal information.