ComReg has published the results of its Digital Services & Online Safety survey, conducted by Red C Research. ComReg has issued this survey to coincide with Safer Internet Day which falls tomorrow, February 9.<\/p>\n
This survey of 2,000 Irish adults and parents highlights the benefits of online services, their awareness and perceptions of online harms and the approaches to protecting themselves and children online.<\/p>\n
The survey finds usage of a range of online services is very high, with search and communication services being used most often. More than 80% use messaging apps on a daily basis, while more than 75% use social media daily.<\/p>\n
Survey participants recognise that there are both benefits and challenges associated with the use of online services. Ease of access to information (78%) was the most commonly reported benefit of online services while security of personal data (67%) and fake news (66%) were the most commonly reported challenges.<\/p>\n
Two thirds (67%) of survey participants report becoming more conscious of their privacy online over the last year. The majority have taken actions to help keep themselves safe online, such as increasing privacy settings (72%) or blocking someone (71%) but deleting comments or reporting someone to a social media company are less common.<\/p>\n
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of parents have rules about how long or when their children are allowed to go online. More advanced digital controls such as software that limits the people children can be in contact with or services to limit the time children spend online are used less frequently by parents. The majority of parents check a child\u2019s online behaviour at least sometimes, such as the apps they have downloaded (69%) or the online content they view (69%).<\/p>\n
ComReg Commissioner Robert Mourik said: \u201cTo mark Safer Internet Day 2021 on February 9th<\/sup>, our survey of Irish adults and parents reveals the many benefits and challenges we face when using online services. Over the last year we have all been relying more on our home broadband service and various online services. This reliance will only grow over the coming years. It is reassuring to see that the majority of parents are aware of online harms and are taking steps to protect their children online.\u201d<\/p>\n Key findings:<\/strong><\/p>\n About Safer Internet Day<\/strong><\/p>\n In Ireland, Safer Internet Day is coordinated by Webwise, the Irish Internet Safety Awareness Centre. Webwise a\u00a0key educational resource offering free online safety education resources, information, training and advice for schools, parents\u00a0and young people. Parents can access free advice and resources via the Webwise.ie Parents Hub.<\/p>\n Find the full publication here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ComReg has published the results of its Digital Services & Online Safety survey, conducted by Red C Research. ComReg has issued this survey to coincide … <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":115864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-enforcement"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n