OLX shares 2021 Safer Internet Day report, reveals web usage habits of Indians

OLX has just published a new report on the Internet usage habits of Indians as a part of its 2021 Safer Internet Day study. The company studied the behaviour of 6000 Indian Internet users across cities for this and revealed that while the Internet usage spiked by 50% due to the pandemic, it also led to the increase in cyber frauds across 61% of Indian households. It added that the focus on right to privacy has pushed 81% of Indian Internet users to stop using or considering not using certain apps. In addition 45% of the users said that they verify any news or information shared online, before acting upon them.

As per the study, 58% of the respondents said that all members in their families access the internet frequently while 15% said that the primary users of the Internet in their household were the elderly members. What comes as good news here is that 82% said they were aware of heightened cyber frauds which originated during the pandemic.

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And as a result, some have taken precautions as well. While 57% of the users said that they no longer open suspicious messages, emails or any form of communication with fake or misleading links, 45% said that they now verify any news or information shared online.

Talking about the metrics, OLX India director, Lavanya Chandan said “The pandemic has accelerated the penetration of internet-based services and has consequently had a profound impact on the level of comfort people have with the use of the internet. Safer Internet Day presents a wonderful opportunity to bring the issues impacting the internet ecosystem to the fore of public discourse. It also serves a reminder for us to take stock of our online behaviour and emphasises upon the need to close the gap on critical issues such as digital literacy and cyber safety awareness among internet users. Our study shows a remarkable shift in online behaviour among Indian internet users which has resulted from an increased sensitization, and this has prompted the adoption of basic tools to address concerns around privacy and safety”