It's definitely not a fact, but rather an argument.
Non-technical people within my circle appreciate GDPR. They fall into recent Apple's privacy advertising, FWIW. Many of my non-IT business peers have moved to private email services long ago — e.g. Protonmail, Mailbox.org, Fastmail, etc. — regardless of Google's Eric Schmidt[1] anti-privacy stance back in the day. Almost everyone I constantly communicate with use Telegram, and privacy of comms (FWIW) was among selling points at the time of switching the IM.
I won't exaggerate the value of privacy for a general public. But since Snowden's publications, Cambridge Analytica scandal and GDPR discussion with a widespread media coverage, common citizens became much more privacy-concerned, at least in Europe.
Below I quote highlights from the recent FRA (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights) survey report "Your rights matter: Data protection and privacy - Fundamental Rights Survey", June 2020[2]:
> 41% do not want to share any personal data with private companies, almost double the number compared to public bodies;
> the type of personal data influences people’s willingness to share. Only around 5% want to share their facial images or fingerprints with private companies;
> 72% know the privacy settings on their smart phones. But 24% do not know how to check the privacy settings on their apps;
> 55% fear criminals or fraudsters accessing their personal data. Around 30% worry about advertisers, businesses and foreign governments’ access to information without them knowing;
> 33% do not read the terms and conditions when using online services compared with 22% who always read them;
> 69% know about the GDPR. A similar number know their national data protection supervisory authority (71%);
> only 51% are aware that they can access their personal data held by companies.
Non-technical people within my circle appreciate GDPR. They fall into recent Apple's privacy advertising, FWIW. Many of my non-IT business peers have moved to private email services long ago — e.g. Protonmail, Mailbox.org, Fastmail, etc. — regardless of Google's Eric Schmidt[1] anti-privacy stance back in the day. Almost everyone I constantly communicate with use Telegram, and privacy of comms (FWIW) was among selling points at the time of switching the IM.
I won't exaggerate the value of privacy for a general public. But since Snowden's publications, Cambridge Analytica scandal and GDPR discussion with a widespread media coverage, common citizens became much more privacy-concerned, at least in Europe.
Below I quote highlights from the recent FRA (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights) survey report "Your rights matter: Data protection and privacy - Fundamental Rights Survey", June 2020[2]:
> 41% do not want to share any personal data with private companies, almost double the number compared to public bodies;
> the type of personal data influences people’s willingness to share. Only around 5% want to share their facial images or fingerprints with private companies;
> 72% know the privacy settings on their smart phones. But 24% do not know how to check the privacy settings on their apps;
> 55% fear criminals or fraudsters accessing their personal data. Around 30% worry about advertisers, businesses and foreign governments’ access to information without them knowing;
> 33% do not read the terms and conditions when using online services compared with 22% who always read them;
> 69% know about the GDPR. A similar number know their national data protection supervisory authority (71%);
> only 51% are aware that they can access their personal data held by companies.
[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/google-ceo-eric-schmid...
[2] https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-20... (PDF)