Phone More Important than Wallet?
Thu, 06/11/2009 - 08:29 by Greg Sterling
The answer appears to be yes for a significant minority according to a new survey by Mformation. According to the survey, which polled 4,000 people in the US and UK:
In addition to telephone numbers:
- 65% of survey respondents had address and other contact information on their phones
- 83% have digital photos
- 51% have videos
- 48% have calendar information
- 40% have music
In terms of loss or theft:
- 82% of people fear that if their phones were lost or stolen there would be identity theft
- 90% of those questioned are worried about the loss of their personal data; 72% said that personal information would be difficult to replace
- 40% of respondents even said that losing a mobile would be worse than losing their wallet
That last data point now partly reflects that people have confidence credit cards and other information in wallets can be replaced with comparative ease. But it also shows how "personal" mobile phones have become, especially smartphones:
Source: Pew Internet Project (12/07), n=2,054