Over three quarters of EU internet users take steps to protect personal data online

Some 76.9% of internet users in the European Union took steps to protect their personal data online in 2025, new data has revealed.

According to Eurostat, the percentage of those taking steps to manage access to their personal data was up 3.7% compared to 2023 (73.2%), reflecting a broader awareness of data privacy and online security.

As the data showed, around three fifths (58.8%) of internet users chose not to allow their personal data to be used for advertising purposes, up 4.5 percentage points on 2023, while 56.2% restricted access to their geographical location, an increase of 5.4 percentage points.

Some 46% limited access to social media profiles or shared online storage, a 5.0 percentage point increase, while 39% of respondents said that they checked that the website where they provided personal data was secure, a rise of 4.2 percentage points.

In addition, 37.6% of respondents said that they read the privacy policy statements of a particular website or provider before sharing their personal data, a 1.7 percentage point increase.

Finland leads the way

Finland boasted the highest share of internet users that took measures to protect their data, with 92.6% doing so, followed by the Netherlands (91.2%) and Czechia (90.3%).

In contrast, just 56% of internet users in Romania said that they took measures to restrict access to their online data, followed by Slovenia (57.4%) and Bulgaria (62.0%).

Eurostat published its findings to coincide with Data Protection Day, which took place on 28 January. Read more here.

Percentage of Internet Users Taking Steps to Protect Their Data Online – 2025 (%)

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