A quarter of Britons (25%) say they actively listen to conversations they overhear. This applies to 23% of men and 28% of women.
The youngest generation is the nosiest, with 37% of those aged 16-24 saying they listen in on a conversation they overhear, including 48% of women of this age, compared to 20-27% of those who are 25 and older.
Overall, four in ten Britons (40%) describe themselves as nosy, with this being the case for significantly more women (51%) than men (29%).
Half of Britons aged 16-24 (51%) and 44% of those aged 25-39 say they are nosy, which is more than among those in their 40s and older (35-37%).
The YouGov Study on Spying finds that 14% of Britons have secretly recorded someone without that person knowing. Younger Britons – particularly men aged 16-24 (20%) – are the most likely to report secretly recording someone. Eight in ten (82%) say they haven’t ever recorded anyone secretly.
Britons who said they would like to work at Britain’s security agencies (19%) are more likely than the national average (14%) to say that they have secretly recorded a conversation.
