MOSCOW, 6 October 2025. The VCIOM Analytical Center presents the index of digital phobias based on the results of a survey describing what fears of the digital present and the digital future Russians are most concerned about.

Tomorrow starts today

Technologies are quickly penetrating all areas of life, whether it be work, education, communication, finance or public services. Along with comfort and new opportunities they bring about new vulnerabilities.

Today Russians feel extremely vulnerable in the digital environment. An integral indicator of digital fears[1] gained 22 points (in a range from −100 to 100) and is in a weakly positive “yellow zone”. It means that risks are viewed as moderately potential, and there is a general concern that has not entered a ‘red zone’ of an inevitable crisis.

The findings show that Russians perceive the digital environment as a zone of personal risks, and not as a remote global threat. What they prioritize is personal data safety and privacy followed by legal guarantees and reliable digital infrastructure. Socio-economic impacts of digitalization (automation, employment impacts, income) pose less concern. And global catastrophic scenarios are seen in the distant background.

Cyber security

Prioritization of risks helps better understand how Russians’ digital fears are being formed. Presumably personal experience and threat visibility play a more important role than media scenarios of tech catastrophes. So, data safety and privacy are placed first, meaning that the main fear is data breach. Data leaks and scams that Russians are facing in their daily lives (scam calls, phishing, doxxing) are a substantial risk for them. Fake news has become a common source of anxiety too. Respondents also mention loss of privacy due to constant collection and analysis of digital footprints.

You do not have to say anything …

Excessive collection of data by commercial organizations are the biggest legal risk according to Russians. It is even more important than digital content regulations and government exceeding its authority to collect data, as well as lack of legal protection in case of digital harm.

People interact with businesses (services, social media, banking) more frequently, and they notice that the businesses know too much about them. Respondents are also worried about restrictions on freedom of speech and government policies but only as part of public discussion. As few respondents have experience with digital right protection, anxiety is rather small. 

Temporarily unavailable

Most Russians have experienced what it is when you can’t connect to the Internet. So, when it comes to reliable infrastructure, dependency on a stable connection is paramount. Disruptions in online public services and banking cause discomfort but they occur less often, so it is easier to tolerate them than a blackout or a shutdown. Going completely online is still perceived only as hypothetical: personal services are still on, so there is no reason to be worried.

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Among socio-economic risks, Russians place psychological dependence on gadgets and social media in the first place followed by digital burnout and fatigue. Weakening critical thinking and reliance on AI pose less concern: these threats are more theoretical. Lack of digital skills as a fear is not found; most of respondents, especially young Russians, are confident in their skills to use services.

Robots work, not humans

Although global system risks are viewed to be less urgent, Russians are extremely worried about AI being used to assess people based on their behavior and emotions. It deals with intrusion of privacy that can already be witnessed (algorithms of recommendations, HR systems, social ratings); apparently scaling up these practices raises anxiety.

AI errors also cause concern, whereas job loss and the rise of the machines seem to be remote threats; respondents do not see any direct relationship and are rather skeptical about them.

Does fear have many eyes?

Overall, Russians’ digital fears are rather pragmatic; they are not related to the future, but to the daily routine, personally safety, and personal life. The top five fears include:  

• Personal data leakage and theft;
• Spread of fake news; difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction;
• Dependency on stable connectivity and digital platforms;
• Hacking of connected devices;
• Commercial organizations exceeding their authority to collect data.

Another group of fears (average level of anxiety) is not related to damage, but a sense of discomfort, restrictions touching the whole society: psychological dependence on gadgets, Internet, social media; restricting the freedom of speech through digital content regulations; government exceeding its authority to collect data; use of AI to evaluate people based on their behavior and emotions; disruptions or unavailability of government internet service; disruptions and unavailability of commercial and other services;  loss of private space due to constant collection and analysis of digital footprints; absence of legal protection in case of damage. 

Abstract, futuristic and universal threats are at the bottom of the list. The more remote the risk appears to be, the lower it is in the list of fears (AI mistakes; digital burnout and media fatigue; cancellation of offline public services; decline in analysis and critical thinking skills due to over-reliance on AI; job loss due to automation and robotization, AI use; lack of digital skills to work and study, to tackle everyday issues; loss of control over AI). In other words, Russians do not await the rise of the machines or total unemployment, they are more concerned about what is happening today.

Fathers and children

Different generations go through digital transformation in a different way; apparently fears are shaped by when they came across the Internet and new technologies.

Older millennials and the Reform generations are more cautious about digital risks: they are afraid of data leaks, insufficient legal regulations and possible losses at work or in income due to digitalization. They started their career before the mass digitalization and had to adapt to it later; for them the digital world is not a natural environment, but more of a series of constant novations and challenges that can disrupt established routine.  

Younger millennials were raised in the Internet era, so they feel more at ease with technologies. What they are concerned about is manipulation with information and restrictions on freedom of speech rather than issues related to work and money.

Zoomers appear to be rather calm. They were born with a gadget in their hands and got used to omnipresent technologies, so they perceive digital risks as an integral part of life and not as an impending disaster.

Older generations (the Stagnation generation and the Thaw generation), those who have retired, build the digital reality around themselves steadily and selectively; they do not perceive it as something mandatory and appreciate just particular innovations; that is why they probably see risks but do not perceive them as a threat to their routine and future.

All-Russian VCIOM-Sputnik telephone survey was conducted August 8, 2025. A total of 1,600 respondents aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interview, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Key effectiveness indicators, survey of August 8, 2025: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7040; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0170; response rate (RR)*** = 0.0805. Calculations are based on corporate standard:

 * CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.

** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.

** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.

* Index of digital fears shows how possible a certain problem is for Russians. Index is based on the question “How do you perceive the likelihood of the following problems in your life?”; it is measured in points and can vary between −100 and 100. The “completely confident that it can happen” answer corresponds to “1”; “likely to happen”, “0.5”; “likely not to happen”, “-0.5”; “it will never happen”, “ -1”. The higher the index, the more likely the problem occurs according to Russians.

** Integral index is calculated as an average meaning across all risks (cyber security and privacy; legal risks; reliability of digital infrastructure; socio-economic consequences; global system risks).

^[1] Index of digital fears shows how probable a certain problem is for Russians. Index is based on the question “How do you perceive the likelihood of the following problems in your life?”; it is measured in points and can vary between −100 and 100. The “completely confident that it can happen” answer corresponds to “1”; “likely to happen”, “0.5”; “likely not to happen”, “-0.5”; “it will never happen”, “ -1”. The higher the index, the more likely the problem occurs according to Russians.

Integral index is calculated as an average meaning across all risks (cyber security and privacy; legal risks; reliability of digital infrastructure; socio-economic consequences; global system risks).

AUTHOR: Tatyana Smak