A new report from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life project may bolster the conventional wisdom in the credit union industry that security concerns could be impacting mobile banking adoption.

A survey conducted among 2,254 adults this spring found that 54% of smartphone app users chose not to install an app when they discovered how much personal information was needed in order to use it, Pew researchers said.

Meanwhile, 30% of app users said they have uninstalled an app already on their phone when they discovered it was collecting personal information they didn't wish to share, Pew said, and altogether 57% of all app users have either uninstalled an app or declined to install one in the first place because of concerns about sharing data.

The respondents represented 38% of the adult population and include the 43% of cellphone owners who said they download apps, the Washington-based research foundation said in the Sept. 5 report titled “Privacy and Data Management on Mobile Devices.”

“Outside of some modest demographic differences, app users of all stripes are equally engaged in these aspects of personal information management. Owners of both Android and iPhone devices are also equally likely to delete (or avoid entirely) cell phone apps due to concerns over their personal information,” the Pew group said in the new report.

The report also said that smartphone owners are generally more active in managing their mobile data, but also experience greater exposure to privacy intrusions

“Six in ten smartphone owners say they back up the contents of their phone; half have cleared their phone's search or browsing history; and one third say they have turned off their phone's location tracking feature,” the report said.

“Yet despite these steps, smartphone owners are also twice as likely as other cell owners to have experienced someone accessing their phone in a way that made them feel like their privacy had been invaded. Owners of smartphones and more basic phones are equally likely to say their phone has been lost or stolen,” the Pew report said.

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Pew Report Finds Smartphone Users Eschewing Apps

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