The Pew Center for Internet and American Life released a new survey on Tuesday to shed light on the average consumer’s “Web IQ,” or their digital literacy. Questions included identifying famous leaders of technology companies, such as Bill Gates and Sheryl Sandberg, and basic digital meanings, including whether a kilobyte is larger than a megabyte. Noticeably, however, was a general lack of understanding by consumers about what a privacy policy protects. More than half of the respondents said they thought it was true that privacy policies ensure “that the company keeps confidential all the information it collects on users.” Hayley Tsukayama, a reporter for The Washington Post, wrote, “But that is not at all what privacy policies do; in fact, they are generally there to tell you exactly how companies are not keeping your data confidential and how they’re sharing your information with their partners.” (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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