2016 AARP Cyber Security Survey of Adults Age 18 and Older

According to the 2016 AARP Cyber Security survey adults age 18 and older would be more favorable toward a coffee shop, bookstore, hotel, or other public location that offers free public Wi-Fi if they provided users with information on how to protect themselves from cyber scams. Seven in ten survey respondents believe that locations offering free public Wi-Fi should display information on the risks associated with using public Wi-Fi, and the majority feel that free public Wi-Fi is only somewhat safe or not very safe at all.

Key findings include the following:

• More than 70 percent of public Wi-Fi users access Facebook or their personal email.
  
  
• Seventy percent  of public Wi-Fi users say they don’t recall the public location providing any information about how to protect yourself from cyber scams.
  
  
• Seventy percent  of users think locations offering free public Wi-Fi should display information on the risks associated with using public Wi-Fi to shop, bank, or access social media sites.
  
  
• Two-thirds of users would be more favorable toward a coffee shop, bookstore, hotel, or other public location that offered free public Wi-Fi if they provided users with information on how to protect themselves from cyber scams.

The 2016 AARP Cyber Security Survey was conducted as a random digit dial telephone survey among adults age 18 and older across the nation. For more information, contact Joanne Binette at jbinette@aarp.org.

Suggested Citation:

Binette, Joanne. 2016 AARP Cyber Security Survey of Adults Age 18 and Older. Washington, DC: AARP Research, August 2016. https://doi.org/10.26419/res.00130.001