5 Shock Stats Prove Most People Have Had Their Personal Data Stolen

Data breaches are hitting the world hard:

1. In the first half of 2024, the total number of US data breach victims surpassed 1 billion—a 490 per cent increase from the same time last year.
   
2. In the United Kingdom, 30 million people or 55% of all adults have had their data stolen.
   
3. Two-thirds of Australians experienced a cyberattack or data breach in the 12 months up to October 2024. Half of those were hit more than once.
   
4. Across Europe, 2,289,599,662 known records were breached in 556 publicly disclosed incidents in the short time between November 2023 and April 2024.
   
5. In the Middle East, the UAE’s public sector alone averages 50,000 cyberattacks every day, with the number of attacks on the private sector possibly double or triple that number.
   

Back in 2020, research found that 30% of consumers globally had already fallen victim to a data breach (that’s nearly a third of the world’s consumer population)—and now, four years later, 2024 recorded the biggest data breaches in history, including the “mother of all data breaches”  of 26 billion leaked data records from users of Tencent, Weibo, Twitter, Dropbox, LinkedIn, Adobe, Canva and Telegram, and government agencies.

It’s no wonder people are scared. The International Association of Privacy Professional’s 2023 Privacy and Consumer Trust Report, which surveyed 4,750 individuals across 19 countries, found 68% of consumers globally are either somewhat or very concerned about their privacy online. Other major studies have found similar:

• More than a third of Americans told Pew Research that they fear their personal information being stolen.
• 60% told Cisco that they feel they can’t protect their personal data.  
• Nearly six in 10 people told Deloitte  they worry their devices are vulnerable to security breaches.

As a result, people are becoming more proactive at solving the data privacy problem for themselves:

• 67% of consumers told Cisco this year that they review or update their privacy settings in apps and platforms
• 68% said they implement multi-factor authentication.
• 61% said they use password managers for credential security.

We believe that there’s never been a more crucial time for consumers to proactively protect their personal information.

If you discover your personal information was exposed in a data breach, quickly change your passwords, add a fraud alert to your credit reports, and place a freeze on your credit reports. More helpful advice is available at the non-profit Identity Theft Resource Centre and the FTC.

You can also move quickly today to download MySudo all-in-one privacy app and RECLAIM personal data removal service, powered by MySudo.

MySudo protects your personal information by giving you secure alternative phone numbers, email addresses, and payment cards. MySudo is the original all-in-one privacy app that lets you protect your information, secure your chat, and organize your life:

• PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION with secure digital identities called Sudos, each with its own phone, email, handle, private browser, and virtual card*. Anywhere you’d normally use your personal phone number, email or credit card, use your Sudo ones instead. Sign up for deals and discounts, book rental cars and hotel rooms, pay for concerts or a coffee—all without giving away your personal information. 
  
• SECURE YOUR CHAT with end-to-end encrypted calls, texts and emails between MySudo users via your Sudo handle—or communicate standard outside the app with everyone else. Your Sudo phone and email work just like your personal ones AND they protect you from spam and scams. 
  
• ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE with multiple Sudo digital identities, each with a different purpose. Depending on your plan, you can have up to 9 Sudos, so you can shop with a Sudo, date with a Sudo, order food with a Sudo, sell secondhand stuff with a Sudo, live with a Sudo. What happens in a Sudo stays in the Sudo, so your information is safe and organized.

What’s in a Sudo?

• 1 email address – for end-to-end encrypted emails between app users, and standard email with everyone else
• 1 handle – for end-to-end encrypted messages and video, voice and group calls between app users
• 1 private browser – for searching the internet without ads and tracking
• 1 phone number (optional)* – for end-to-end encrypted messaging and video, voice and group calls between app users, and standard connections with everyone else; customizable and mutable
• 1 virtual card (optional)* – for protecting your personal info and your money, like a proxy for your credit or debit card or bank account

*Phone numbers and virtual cards only available on a paid plan. Phone numbers available for US, CA and UK only. Virtual cards for US only.

RECLAIM tells you where your information has been caught in a data breach and helps you manage your next move.

RECLAIM, powered by MySudo, is a new personal data removal service that helps you reclaim control of your personal information from the companies that store and might sell it. 

RECLAIM tells you which companies hold your personal information and—better yet—where your information might have been caught in a data breach. It then gives you step-by-step instructions for protecting your information going forward, either by using Sudos in MySudo or asking the company to delete your personal information altogether. 

Download MySudo.
Download RECLAIM.
Discover other MySudo apps.

Also from our blog:What is a Data Breach?
What Should I Do if I’ve Been Caught in a Data Breach?