3 days ago
This is the country most worried about digital privacy in Europe
Almost nine out of 10 Europeans are concerned about their privacy and would be more willing to embrace technology with artificial intelligence (AI) if they knew their data was secure, a new survey has found.
Research from Samsung Electronics showed that as well as privacy concerns, more Europeans (62 per cent) would be willing to use AI if they understood the benefits to their lifestyles.
The data comes as tech companies race to integrate AI into their gadgets, such as Apple which this week announced several updates, including AI in its smartwatch to give users better health data.
Internet data scraping is one of the biggest debates in AI, with tech companies such as OpenAI saying all content online should be used to train AI models, which has led to lawsuits over copyright and data practices.
However, the survey also showed that privacy concerns are wide-ranging, such as fraud and metadata being used to identify humans.
The data also showed that 75 per cent of respondents felt managing data was stressful.
The country in Europe where people were the most stressed was Spain (88 per cent), followed by Greece (87 per cent), and France and Italy (both 75 per cent).
However, the survey also showed that privacy concerns are wide-ranging, such as fraud and metadata being used to identify humans.
While most consumers were worried about privacy on their smartphones, with almost 50 per cent thinking about the privacy of their phones every day, more than a third of them had never thought about the security of their smart appliances at home, such as robot vacuum cleaners or smart fridges.
Fears around security are preventing some consumers (18 per cent) from sharing data between their smart devices. This, in turn, holds consumers back from getting the most out of their tech, the survey said.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Samsung Electronics said it wanted its home devices to be connected, so that a robot vacuum would automatically clean up after a hairdryer was used.
'This research highlights a growing trend: while consumers are proactive about managing privacy on their smartphones, they're often overlooking the broader ecosystem of connected devices,' Dr Seungwon Shin, corporate EVP and head of security team, at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.
'It also reflects a hesitation to fully embrace AI-powered experiences, largely driven by uncertainty around data use'.
More than 8,000 people were surveyed across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Croatia, and Greece in April.
At just 26, Filipino aeronautical engineer Mark Kennedy Bantugon is already changing how we think about aviation maintenance. With his invention Pili Seal®, a sustainable aircraft sealant made from agricultural waste, he's offering a safer, biodegradable alternative to conventional adhesives used in the aerospace industry – many of which contain hazardous petrochemical ingredients.
His innovation has earned him a spot among the top 10 global winners of the Young Inventors Prize 2025, awarded by the European Patent Office (EPO).
For over half a century, polysulfide-based sealants have been standard in aircraft manufacturing and repair, particularly for sealing fuel tanks. But these products often pose serious health and environmental risks. They can cause skin and respiratory irritation, and their disposal requires special handling due to their chemical composition. Pili Seal® challenges this norm by using the resin of the Pili tree, a substance that is normally discarded as waste by the food and perfume industries in the Philippines.
"I am addressing two different pain points," Bantugon explains. "The first one is the drawbacks of commercial sealants and adhesives. The second one is the 155 million kilograms of annual Pili resin waste. With my Pili Seal, it tackles two different problems with one solution."
Made from this naturally sticky resin, combined with a solvent and hardening agent, Pili Seal® performs under extreme conditions – withstanding fuel exposure, heat, and pressure. It has already passed multiple industry-standard flammability tests, proving its potential for aviation use. But Bantugon sees far wider applications. 'This product is effective in various material applications – metals, wood, glass, ceramic. For example, if you have roof holes, you can use it to prevent leakages,' he says.
Raised in Batangas, a rural province in the Philippines, Bantugon grew up watching his father work the land and his mother teach in the local school. Early memories of patching leaky roofs with chewing gum sparked his fascination with adhesives. That curiosity followed him into his studies in aeronautical engineering and later during an internship at Lufthansa Technik Philippines, where he encountered firsthand the health risks posed by traditional aircraft sealants.
Determined to find a safer, greener alternative, Bantugon spent years experimenting with six types of tree resin before selecting Pili. He refined 84 different formulations before landing on the one that worked. The result: a bio-based sealant that supports a circular economy and could offer a new revenue stream for Philippine farmers.
In 2024, Bantugon founded Pili AdheSeal Inc. to bring the product to market. His work directly contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure) – but it's also deeply personal. 'Success,' he says, 'is best experienced when shared.'
Bantugon hopes that Pili Seal® will soon achieve international certification, opening doors for global aviation partnerships. He's also exploring collaborations with construction and automotive industries, aiming to scale production and create sustainable jobs in rural Filipino communities.
