Americans Admit to Snooping and Forgetfulness While Using Sharing Economy
22 Juni 2016 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
LifeLock Survey finds Summer Travelers
Overshare, Putting Themselves at Risk for Identity Theft
Today, LifeLock, Inc. (NYSE: LOCK) revealed findings from a new
survey examining peoples’ behaviors while using home sharing and
ridesharing services, and the extent to which users are putting
their identities at risk during travel. Surprisingly, the research
found that the risks involved had less to do with the services and
more with consumers’ habits and misjudgments when using them.
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“With summertime travel underway, more people are turning to
ride and home sharing options for their vacation needs,” said Paige
Hanson, Chief of Identity Education at LifeLock. “These services
are certainly convenient for travelers, and typically come at a
lower cost, but it’s important to use caution and participate in
the sharing economy in a safe way,” Hanson added.
Top Findings:
- Among the top findings related to home
sharing, 41 percent of Americans, including 57 percent of
Millennials, admit they have looked through personal items when
visiting someone else’s home. Meanwhile, nearly half of Americans
(49 percent) confessed they frequently fail to lock up personal
documents in their own homes.
- Fifty percent of Americans think it’s
riskier to leave the doors to their home unlocked for a week than
to rent their home to a stranger. However, both behaviors may leave
unsuspecting individuals susceptible to identity theft if their
personal information is accessible.
- Risky behaviors extend beyond house
sharing—forgetfulness in ridesharing was found to be a serious
issue. The data found that nearly 1 in 4 Americans (24 percent),
including 41 percent of Millennials, have left a valuable personal
item, such as a wallet or mobile phone, in a taxi or ridesharing
service.
- Before heading out on a vacation of
their own, 37 percent of Americans, including 42 percent of
Millennials, are unlikely to put their mail on hold with the post
office, possibly exposing personal information to others who may
have access to the travelers’ unsecured or overflowing
mailboxes.
- Additionally, 41 percent of Americans,
including 53 percent of parents, admitted to throwing away
documents that included personal information, such as their phone
number or bank account information, in a trash can that’s available
to the public.
“LifeLock encourages people to triple check that they’ve locked
up anything that includes personal information before opening the
door to renters. This rule applies to your “typical” personal
documents, including birth certificates, bank statements,
utility/medical bills and Social Security cards. It should also
extend to other items such as blank checks and even prescription
medicine bottles, that are also a trove of personal information. In
short, you can never be too safe. Unfortunately, having a stolen
identity can haunt you for life.”
Other steps consumers can take to better protect themselves
include:
- Put your mail and newspapers on
hold. There’s nothing like an overflowing mailbox to tell
thieves you’re not home – except, perhaps, a stack of newspapers in
the driveway. The USPS will hold your mail for you and deliver it
when you get back.
- Have a separate Wi-Fi account for
renters and guests: By doing so, you can reduce the potential
of having your network hacked. Also, if renters are conducting
illegal behavior using your Wi-Fi account, having a separate
account can reduce the negative implications of having it tied to
your name.
- Always check the seat before
hopping out of a taxi or rideshare. This simple step could save you
more than just the headache of replacing lost items—think about the
personal information stored on your phone, for instance.
- Add a password to your devices,
and if your phone uses an Android or iOS platform, enable the “lost
phone” function so if it’s misplaced or stolen, you can track the
device and notify the finder—or even wipe its contents
remotely.
For more insights into these findings, and tips on reducing
exposure to risk in the sharing economy, visit our blog LifeLock
UnLocked.
Follow us on Twitter: @LifeLockLike us on Facebook:
LifeLockFollow us on Instagram: @LifeLock
To hear from our members and learn more about LifeLock, visit
our YouTube Channel.
The LifeLock Survey was conducted by Wakefield Research
(www.wakefieldresearch.com) among 1,002 nationally representative
U.S. adults, ages 18+, between March 24th and 30th, 2016, using an
email invitation and an online survey. The survey has a margin of
error of +/- 3.1%.
About LifeLock
LifeLock, Inc. (NYSE:LOCK) is a leading provider of proactive
identity theft protection services for consumers and fraud and risk
management solutions for enterprises. LifeLock’s threat detection,
proactive identity alerts, and comprehensive remediation services
help provide peace of mind for consumers amid the growing threat of
identity theft. Leveraging unique data, science and patented
technology from ID Analytics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary,
LifeLock offers identity theft protection that goes beyond credit
monitoring. As part of its commitment to help fight identity theft,
LifeLock works to train law enforcement and partners with a variety
of nonprofit organizations to help consumers establish positive
habits to combat this threat.
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LifeLock, Inc.Sydney Brown, 415-767-7788Media@lifelock.com
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