Yet another poll seems to prove the “untrusting millennial” stereotype wrong.
According to the latest Gallup poll, millennials trust businesses with their private information more than any other generation.
44 percent said they believe their information is kept private “all” or “most of the time.” In comparison, 32 percent of Generation X and baby boomers said the same.
30 percent of millennials answered that information is kept private “some of the time,” while 26 percent said “little” or “none of the time.”
“Traditionalists”—Americans 70 and up—provide the starkest contrast. They are the only generation where a larger percent distrust, rather than trust, companies with their information.
“In spite of the oft-heard refrain that millennials are not trusting, these results suggest that in some cases — particularly where the privacy of personal information is concerned — millennials are fairly trusting, at least more trusting than skeptical,” Gallup wrote. “Whether this effect is simply the result of life experience and youth, or some other combination of factors, remains to be determined.”
The “untrusting” narrative comes largely from a Pew poll which found that only 19 percent of millennials said people can be trusted, compared to 40 percent of Baby Boomers.
But separate polls suggest that, when it comes to online data, millennials are actually surprisingly trusting. Millennials have more favorable views of the NSA than any other generation, for example, and just 2 in 10 worry “a good deal” about their privacy.
