Safer Internet Day

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In the European Union 10 February 2009 - Safer Internet Day - is dedicated by the European Commission to the safety of young people in social networks.

Households without Internet access mostly do not miss the Internet

In the first quarter of 2008, 41% of households in Slovenia did not have Internet access. As the reason for not having Internet access, 25% of households stated that they do not need it (15% in the EU-27); lack of skills was stated by 16% of households (9% in the EU-27), and too high equipment costs by 14% of households (10% in the EU-27). 4% of households do not have Internet access due to privacy or security concerns: e.g. lack of trust in providing personal data via the Internet, fear of viruses, etc. Compared to the first quarter of 2006, the share of households that do not need Internet access fell by 6 percentage points while the share of households that stated too high equipment costs went down by 3 percentage points.

In the last two years the share of households that do not have Internet access due to lack of skills or due to privacy or security concerns remained the same. In the first quarter of 2008 privacy or security concerns as the reason for households not having Internet access were the highest among the households without children (5%). In the EU-27 only 2% of households did not have Internet access due to privacy or security concerns. As regards EU Member States, most of such households were registered in Finland (10%), in which 72% of all households have Internet access, followed by France and Portugal with 5%, and Germany with 4%. The fewest privacy or security concerns regarding Internet access were registered in Denmark (0.06%).

Mobile Internet use growing

In the first quarter of 2008, 58% of people aged 10-74 years in Slovenia were regular Internet users. A review by age shows that the highest share of regular users (95%) was registered in the age group 10-15. As regards sex, there are no major differences: 60% of men and 57% of women aged 10-74 were regular Internet users.

In the first quarter of 2008, 86% of regular Internet users accessed the Internet at home. Among mobile phone users 39% accessed the Internet via mobile phones, and among them 10% via broadband mobile phones. 14% of regular users aged 10-74 let accessed the Internet outside home by using laptop computers with wireless connection (in the first quarter of 2007 the share was 10%).

Computer protection

In the first quarter of 2007, 29% of people in Slovenia aged 16-74 protected their computers against viruses, harmful software and advertisements. In the EU-27 the share was 30%; it was the highest in Denmark (60%) and the lowest in Latvia and Romania (5%).

As regards computer protection, in Slovenia there is a significant difference between the sexes: 35% of men and 22% of women protect their computers.

Level of education influences people’s facing security problems

In the first quarter of 2007, 35% of regular Internet users aged 16-74 had encountered security problems: in the EU-27 23%. Among them half had elementary education (24% in the EU-27), 33% had secondary education (23% in the EU-27) and 31% had higher education (23% in the EU-27).

As regards sex, 21% of women and 20% of men would like to use the Internet more frequently. 8% of women and 5% of men stated doubts about personal data protection as the reason for not using the Internet more frequently. Lack of skills or knowledge was the reason selected by 2% of men and 6% of women.

Differences regarding the level of education are noticeable also as regards making backup copies; they are made by 23% of regular Internet users, however, the shares by education are: elementary education 14%, secondary education 21% and higher education 31%.