Harris Interactive/Westin Poll, April 10, 2008
A recent nationwide survey by Harris Interactive and Alan F. Westin found that consumers are uncomfortable with information about their online activities being used to better target advertisements. 59% of respondents were not comfortable with Web sites like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN using information about their online activities to tailor content to their interests, even though the question indicated that the practice allowed them to offer e-mail and other services for free. 41% were comfortable with the practice.
After introducing a series of privacy and security policies taken from on the FTC's publication on self-regulation for behavioral advertising, 55% said they would be comfortable with the practice, while 45% would still be uncomfortable.
Center for the Digital Future's Annual Internet Survey, January 17, 2008
In a survey by the Center for the Digital Future, sixty-one percent of adult Americans said they were very or extremely concerned about the privacy of personal information when buying online, an increase from 47 percent in 2006. Before last year, that figure had largely been dropping since 2001.
TRUSTe Behavioral Targeting Survey, March 28, 2008
TRUSTe survey results released today showed that consumers are deeply concerned about the privacy implications of targeted advertising. Of the 1015 respondents:
Javelin Report on Identity Theft, February 1, 2008
Javelin's latest figures show that identity theft is still prevalent, but on the decline. As consumers are becoming more vigilant and credit card and other companies take greater steps to secure their data, identity thieves are having new difficulty obtaining and utilizing sensitive information. A survey of over 5,000 individuals, including 445 fraud victims, showed that the number of identity theft victims has steadily declined since 2003, down from 10.1 million to 8.1 million adult victims. The total one year fraud amount has also dropped by roughly $10 billion since 2006, when there were $55.7 billion in losses.
Annenberg/Samuelson Privacy Policy Findings, November 9, 2007
Research conducted by the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the Samuelson Clinic at UC Berkeley Law School confirms earlier findings about consumer privacy expectations, particularly with regard to "privacy policies" on Web sites. In the 2007 survey:
In 2005, a similar study by the Annenberg Center found that 59% of online shoppers agreed with the statement that, "when a website has a privacy policy, it means the site will not share my information with other websites or companies." This was up from 57% in 2003, the first year of the survey. Other results from the 2003 survey include:
The 2007 report can be found here.
FTC Workshop - Ehavioral Advertising, November 4, 2007
At a recent FTC workshop on behavioral advertising, Dr. Larry Ponemon discussed the results of his institute's 2006 online marketing study. The 1700 Internet users surveyed indicated a desire for more control over their online experience:
TRUSTe Privacy Survey, December 6, 2006
TRUSTe has just come out with a major report that highlights greater concern for online privacy. In light of growing fears about identity theft and mishandling of personal data, consumers are being more cautious:
They are also taking a variety of proactive measures to protect their privacy online:
However, there continues to be confusion and neglect when it comes to a Web site's privacy policy. 53% of respondents believe that a posted privacy statement means the organization "will never sell or give any of my personal information to anyone else," and only 28% say they usually check whether a Web site even has a privacy policy.
Consumer Reports WebWatch Report, October 26, 2005
A report released today by Consumer Reports WebWatch finds that not only are users concerned about privacy breaches online, but that it's having an impact on their Internet usage. 86% of users claimed to have changed their behavior because of a fear of identity theft:
CBS News/New York Times Poll, October 2, 2005
The results of the latest CBS News survey show that privacy is on the minds of many Americans: 52% of those surveyed believe that the right to privacy is under serious threat, and an additional 30% believe the right is already lost. There is also a great deal of suspicion about the collection of data from individuals. 83% of respondents think that companies collecting personal information is mostly a bad thing, and 65% think the federal government should be doing more to regulate the practice.
Cookie Confusion, May 31, 2005
In the past few months, several new studies have underscored the extent of concern and confusion over the use of cookies as a tracking technology. In April, Jupiter Research published a report in which 38% of online users believed that cookies are an invasion of their security and privacy online, and 39% of users claimed to delete the cookies on their computers at least monthly. A later survey by Nielsen/NetRatings found that about 44% of users claimed to have deleted cookies in the previous month.
A recent survey by marketing firm Insight Express shows that many users have incorrect or incomplete understandings of what cookies are, how they operate, and how to get rid of them.
Ponemon Institute Online Marketing Survey, September 9, 2004
The Ponemon Institute's recent study of online advertising sheds some light on the conflict between offering more individualized advertising and collecting personal information to do it. While 45% of respondents said they would provide additional personal information in order to receive more ads targeted to their interests, 55% wanted technology that targets ads without such information. There was also concern about the proper enforcement of privacy policies: 69% favored using privacy-enabling technology to protect personal data instead of relying on third-party verification of good privacy practices.
Forrester Survey, June 30, 2004
The latest Forrester report shows that consumer concerns about data security remain high.
These fears aren't confined to the Web, either. 73% said they hesitate to provide their credit card number over the phone, and 30% of mobile users said security fears make them use mobile data services less.
PC World's 2003 Privacy Survey, October 10, 2003
As PC World's article, "The Great American Privacy Makeover," points out, there is often a disconnect between consumers' concerns and their actions when it comes to privacy. For example, 91% of respondents were concerned about their web usage being tracked (68% said they were "very/extremely concerned"), but only 33% of users claimed to read privacy policies frequently.
2003 Harris Poll, March 20, 2003
The latest Harris Interactive poll on consumer privacy shows that consumers are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the handling of their personal information:
2002 Harris Poll, March 24, 2002
An extensive new Harris Interactive poll of 1529 Internet users reveals that people are becoming more concerned about their privacy and the trustworthiness of companies they do business with. Among the survey's findings:
Forrester On The Cost of Online Privacy Worries, September 18, 2001
While lots of surveys report that consumers are concerned about their privacy when shopping online, there's been a lack of hard numbers about how much of an impact this actually has on sales. Are users facing their fears and shopping anyway? According to Forrester's Christopher Kelley, 60% of consumers seriously worrying about the safety of their personal information online means that the magic number for lost e-commerce revenue in 2001 is about $15 billion.
Freedom of Information in the Digital Age, April 30, 2001
A report by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the First Amendment Center looks at the tension between the values of privacy and openness. While people expressed in an interest in an open society, they were willing to reduce the availability of public records and the investigative rights of journalists in exchange for greater personal privacy. A survey found that 89% of respondents were concerned about personal privacy, putting it at the same level as crime and health care. There was particular concern over the handling of personal information by private companies: only 7% of respondents had a great deal of confidence that private companies use personal information exactly the way they say they will, and 86% were concerned about private companies selling their personal information.
Pew Internet Life Survey, August 21, 2000
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has published a new report on privacy concerns for American Internet users. The report makes two key findings about user expectations and habits:
Privacy in USA Weekend, July 3, 2000
USA Weekend has an extensive feature on consumer attitudes towards privacy that includes the results of an Opinion Research poll. A slight majority of respondents said they were extremely concerned with their ability to keep personal information private (53%) and that current laws do an inadequate job of protecting their right to privacy (51%). The survey also found that 65% of respondents believe companies tracking their Internet use is an invasion of privacy.