More than half of mobile app users in the US (57 percent) have avoided downloading apps or removed them from their smartphones due to concerns about privacy, according to Pew Research Center.

Just over half of survey respondents (54 percent) said they had decided not to install an app after discovering how much personal information they need to share to use it, with 30 percent saying they’ve uninstalled apps because they learned that they were collecting personal information they didn’t want to share.

The research also found that Android and iPhone users are equally likely to delete or avoid apps due to privacy concerns.

In addition, almost a third of people (31 percent) said they have lost their phone or had it stolen, while 12 percent have had the contents of their phone accessed by another person, creating the feeling of having their privacy invaded.

“As mobile applications become an increasingly important gateway to online services and communications, users’ cell phones have become rich repositories that chronicle their lives. The way a mobile application handles personal data is a feature that many cell phone owners now take into consideration when choosing the apps they will use,” said research associate for the Pew Internet & American Life Project and a co-author of the report said Mary Madden.