76.9% of internet users protected their data in 2025

In 2025, 76.9% of EU internet users protected their data online by taking steps to manage access to their personal data, an increase of 3.7 percentage points (pp) compared with 2023 (73.2%).

Majority of internet users (58.8%) chose not to allow their personal data to be used for advertising, while 56.2% restricted or refused access to their geographical location. The use of these protection measures has increased by 4.5 and 5.4 pp over the past 2 years, compared with 2023.

Limiting access to social media profiles or shared online storage also became more common, with 46.0% of internet users taking this step, an increase of 5.0 pp compared with 2023.

In addition, 39.0% of people checked that the website where they provided personal data was secure (+4.2 pp), and 37.6% read the privacy policy statements before sharing their personal data (+1.7 pp).

Source dataset: isoc_cisci_prv20

The highest share of internet users who took measures to protect their data was recorded in Finland (92.6%), followed by the Netherlands (91.2%) and Czechia (90.3%)

In contrast, the lowest shares were recorded in Romania (56.0%), Slovenia (57.4%) and Bulgaria (62.0%).

Source dataset: isoc_cisci_prv20

This news item marks the Data Protection Day celebrated on 28 January.