They’re Here: Privacy-Savvy Website Users

For the longest time, convenience was king for online users, and privacy wasn’t even a close second. People would happily sacrifice their firstborn’s Social Security Number to get slightly earlier access to a free cooking blog post. 

Heck, early Facebook days were littered with status updates of people sending out an absurd amount of personal information for no reason at all. You’d see status updates like:

Followed a day later by:

Followed a day later by:

…and somewhere out there, a burglar reading that feed is packing snacks for the easiest heist of their career.

For a long time, that was the internet. A chaotic garage sale of personal information, but that’s no longer the case for the majority of internet users. Not anymore.

The Rise of the Privacy-Savvy User

Today’s users are not the same carefree oversharers who remember Myspace and Vine. Much like our good friend Susie L. returning to a ransacked house, modern website users have been burned, tracked, and targeted so aggressively that they get sweaty palms at the very idea of tapping on a couch ad and being digitally stalked for weeks after.

They’ve watched headlines about data breaches pile up. They’ve seen Meta apologize (again).

And now? They’re paying attention.

• 81% of Americans say they’re concerned about how companies use their data – Pew Research Center
• 68% of consumers globally are concerned about online privacy – International Association of Privacy Professionals
• 73% of Americans feel they have little to no control over how their data is handled by websites – Pew Research Center

So, basically, everyone except your one friend who still uses “password123” is starting to ask questions like:

• Why does this site need my email for this?
• Why am I being tracked before I even click “accept”?
• Wait, why is there only an “Okay” button and no “Decline” option?!
• Why does this Privacy Policy look like the world’s most boring game of Mad Libs? 

These questions, once reserved for paranoid Reddit threads, are not trickling into the mainstream. So much so that Apple built an entire marketing campaign on privacy, and you can now mention GDPR in any web design community without people thinking you’re talking about some kind of medical disease. 

What this means for web agencies/designers

Here’s the part that web designers and agencies can’t afford to ignore:

Privacy is no longer a backend concern. It’s part of the user experience. A confusing cookie banner, an outdated Privacy Policy, or a data-hungry form doesn’t just create legal risk. It creates trust issues. And much like Susie’s TV, trust is already missing when it comes to the relationship between users and websites. Pew Research found that 81% of people believe companies will use their data in ways they aren’t comfortable with, and 61% think website Privacy Policies are ineffective at explaining how companies use their data.

So, it’s safe to say that when users land on your website, they aren’t exactly starting off with neutral feelings. From the moment they arrive, it’s more like:

Fortunately… We can fix this

One agency’s problem is another agency’s positioning. We’ve already written a blog about how privacy can be a competitive advantage instead of an afterthought. Luckily, that’s even more true today.

You just have to walk away from this blog post with the following takeaways.

Takeaway #1 – People actually read Privacy Policies

According to the Pew Research Study, 4 in 10 Americans claim to occasionally read a Website’s Privacy Policy. Let’s be real, that’s 3.5 more people than we all probably thought. While they may browse a Privacy Policy here and there, it’s probably safe to assume that most users aren’t reading it word for word. However, they probably are noticing:

• If it’s missing
• If it’s outdated
• If it looks generic
• If it contradicts what your site is doing

Remember, you’re trying to build trust with users who already distrust you. Website policies are one of the first places people will go if they have their suspicions.

Takeaway #2 – Users crave transparency, not perfection

While a perfect website from a privacy perspective wouldn’t collect, share, or store data, that’s simply not practical, nor possible for most businesses and most modern websites. I work for a privacy company that’s obsessed with privacy, and even we still collect and share some data (outlined clearly within our recently updated Privacy Policy).

Privacy laws and website users alike don’t necessarily care if your website collects a reasonable amount of data – all they ask is for you to be transparent and upfront about it via your policies and cookie consent banner. 

Takeaway #3 – Mild inconvenience can lead to massive problems

Most of the time, when we talk about the consequences of ignoring good privacy practices, we talk about lawsuits and fines, but from a user’s perspective, we once again must circle back to trust. Once you’ve lost someone’s trust, it’s nearly impossible to get back.

Trust me. My dad once put creamy horseradish sauce on my plate and told me it was vanilla ice cream. I was only 5 or 6 at the time, but I still think about that betrayal and lack of transparency 30 years later. If, for some reason, you need another source, a different Pew Research Report found that half of U.S. adults have stopped using a website or app over concerns about how their data was being used.

It has become easier than ever to get your hands on affordable policies that actually work *insert Termageddon plug here.* So there’s really no reason to live with the risks that come with a privacy-compromised website.

Takeaway #4 – PEOPLE NOTICE

It’s just not attorneys and government officials in suits scouring the web for copy and pasted, out of date and non-compliant Privacy Policies. The internet has been the wild west for so long when it comes to collecting data that almost every user has been burned at some point or another.

Privacy laws are designed to protect people, not punish businesses. A transparent website that does everything it can to respect people’s privacy rights is good for everybody and your website users will notice. 

Bottom Line: Don’t give users horseradish and say it’s ice cream

Your website users may not know the difference between CIPA and CPRA, just like they probably don’t know exactly what horseradish even is (I’m still not certain), but they’ll definitely smell something funny is going on.

The average website user isn’t a legal expert. They’re not cross-referencing your policies with state regulations. But they have become incredibly good at picking up on signals. A weirdly aggressive, pre-selected pop-up. A vague explanation. Puns in your cookie consent banner. These sketchy moments add up.

Fortunately, so do the right ones. Websites that:

• Have easily accessible policies
• Have specific details of how data is processed 
• Avoid pre-selected boxes
• Use cookie banners that actually give users a choice

These aren’t just wins for compliance; they are wins for building trust with your users. And in a world where AI-generated everything has trust at an all-time low, that can make or break a website.

P.S. This blog is not legal advice. It is, however, parental advice. Don’t give your children horseradish.