20% of UK citizens would never use their credit card on the Internet, while almost 70% of Internet users were saying they were ready to give away their personal data. More than 25% of respondents also claimed that they never want to provide their mobile phone number online, but at the same time admitted that giving away other personal data could benefit them in some way.

Ofcom, the British telecoms regulator, questioned almost 1,900 adults in a recent survey aimed to identify Internet behavior of the British. It turned out that the average weekly Internet usage has doubled over the last decade, and today less people are concerned about it – only 50% down from 70% a decade ago. Ofcom also found out that 60% of Internet users wanted to be protected from inappropriate or offensive material online. 20% of those surveyed also felt concerned about fraud, security and privacy. 28% were concerned about mobile apps.

As for age groups, the survey revealed that Internet usage by 16-24 year-olds tripled from 2005, mostly driven by the smartphones and tablets gaining popularity. While 37% of adults said they would miss their TV the most if they had to give it up, almost 60% of 16-24 year-olds admitted they would miss their mobile phone the most. It should also be noted that smartphones became the dominant gaming platform: over a quarter of respondents played games on their phones once a week, 17% – on games consoles and 15% – on tablets.

Ofcom also revealed that the number of people regularly playing games has more than doubled – from 10% a decade ago to 22% last year. This is undoubtedly good news for the games industry, which was estimated to worth £1.7bn last year.