It seems that men in the United Kingdom not only love their mobile apps but they love their privacy even more.
Although it was a bit smaller spike than in recent years past, the spike in mobile app downloads worldwide on Christmas day 2013 was still huge. According to a survey by YouGov and commissioned by the United Kingdom’s independent authority for information rights, UK men are most responsible for downloading apps in Great Britain. In fact, during December 2013, 63% of all male Internet users downloaded an app of one type or another while only 54% of women did the same.
According to the survey the gap would have been even wider except for one worry that UK men have more than women; privacy. When asked if privacy concerns had stopped them from downloading a mobile app last year, 41% of men responded that yes, it had, whereas only 37% of women said the same.
Communication experts in the UK believe that the privacy issue, especially considering their maturing market, needs to be given a lot of consideration. As smart phone use increases, smart phone users are becoming more and more shrewd about using their beloved apps. 76% of people who responded to the recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive said that if they didn’t “trust an app” they were more likely to avoid downloading it.
Just like the population at large, many people around the globe are concerned about privacy issues and in the UK men in general are acutely aware of the problem. For a business looking to increase brand awareness using an app, using the “Privacy in Mobile Apps” guide from the ICO is recommended, as well as full and open app transparency.
