Majority of E-mail Users Express Concern about Internet Privacy

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Nearly eight in 10 e-mail users are at least somewhat concerned about the privacy of personal information that they give out on the Internet, but a new online Gallup poll of e-mail users indicates that just 28% are "very concerned." The poll, conducted via the Internet June 14-26, shows that e-mail users are most worried about misuse of their credit card information and feel least comfortable giving out their Social Security number and credit card numbers online. Two-thirds of e-mail users think that the federal government should pass more laws to ensure citizens' privacy online, while 33% think the current laws are sufficient.

The survey of e-mail users first measured general concern over privacy on the Internet, with the following results:

 

How concerned are you personally about the privacy of personal information you give out on the Internet, as well as privacy regarding what you do on the Internet?
	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	28%	50	18	3	1

In addition to general concern, the survey also measured concern about a series of specific privacy risks encountered while using the Internet, including those associated with credit card information, Internet "cookies," and privacy of online communication. The table below summarizes the results:

 

2001 Jun 14-26 (sorted by "very concerned")	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Very/ Somewhat concerned
	%	%	%
Misuse of your credit card information that you give out on the Internet	46	36	82
Companies that keep records on your Internet usage, which they then use for marketing purposes	35	38	73
Internet "cookies" that track where you go on the Internet	31	40	71
Your Internet service provider monitoring your use of Internet and e-mail	29	32	61
Someone forwarding your e-mails to people you did not want to read them	19	31	50
Your business or company monitoring your use of Internet and e-mail	16	23	39

More than eight in 10 e-mail users (82%) say they are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about the misuse of credit card information given out on the Internet. This ranked as the chief worry of e-mail users, regardless of their demographic make up. Although, again the percentage of respondents who are very concerned is just a little under half of those surveyed.

Marketing activities and the use of Internet "cookies" also make e-mail users uneasy: 73% are concerned about companies keeping records on their Internet usage, and 71% are concerned about Internet "cookies" that track where they go on the Internet.

Attitudes about monitoring Internet and e-mail use apparently depend on who is doing the monitoring. Sixty-one percent of e-mail users indicate that they are concerned about their Internet service provider monitoring their use of the Internet and e-mail, while just 39% say they are concerned about their business or company doing the same thing. Concern is especially high among young adults, as more than half (56%) of 18- to 29-year-old e-mail users express concern, compared with 39% of 30 to 49 year olds, and 32% of those over age 50.

E-mail users are evenly divided in their views about having their e-mails forwarded to someone that they did not want to read them, with 50% saying they are concerned and 50% saying they are not concerned. Older people (over 50) are more likely to express concern (57%) than are 30 to 49 year olds (49%) or those under 30 (40%).

E-mail Users Least Comfortable Giving Out Social Security, Credit Card Numbers Online

The poll asked e-mail users how comfortable they are giving out several different types of personal information. The results are shown below.

Comfort With Giving Information Out Over the Internet Sorted by "Very/Somewhat Comfortable"

391 E-mail users / June 14-26, 2001

Overall, e-mail users are least comfortable giving out their Social Security number as only 11% are comfortable, while 73% say they are "not comfortable at all" giving out this apparently vital piece of information. E-mail users are also quite uncomfortable giving out their credit card information, as only 33% say they are comfortable sharing this information online. A related question shows that just 22% of e-mail users are "completely" or "very confident" that their credit card information will be secure and not misused in some way if they pay for something on the Internet using their credit card.

E-mail users are also quite reluctant to give out their home phone number -- just 35% are comfortable doing so -- but are much more comfortable giving out their work phone number (53% say they are comfortable doing this). About half of e-mail users say they feel comfortable giving out their date of birth or street address online. Respondents are most comfortable (78%) giving out their e-mail address, which might be expected since they agreed to share their e-mail address with Gallup (to take part in a future online poll) after having originally been part of a random sample of national adults in earlier Gallup telephone polls conducted in 2001.

E-mail Users Want More Laws to Ensure Online Privacy

Overall, 66% of e-mail users -- including a majority of every key subgroup of users -- think the government should pass more laws to ensure online privacy. However, the level of support varies among subgroups. Frequent Internet users -- those who spend 15 hours or more online each week -- are more likely to favor the passage of new laws (75%) than are infrequent users (63%). Also, Democrats (73%) are more likely than Republicans (60%) to favor more privacy laws. And more than seven in 10 e-mail users below the age of 50 favor more government activity, compared with just 56% of those age 50 and older.

Survey Methods

The results below are based on Internet interviews with 391 national adults, aged 18+, with e-mail addresses, originally contacted in a telephone survey, who agreed to be re-contacted for a future survey by e-mail, conducted June 14-26, 2001.For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 5 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

How concerned are you personally about the privacy of personal information you give out on the Internet, as well as privacy regarding what you do on the Internet?

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	28%	50	18	3	1

How concerned are you personally about each of the following? [RANDOM ORDER]

A. Internet "cookies" that track where you go on the Internet

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	31%	40	22	6	1

B. Your business or company monitoring your use of Internet and e-mail

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	16%	23	26	32	3

C. Your Internet service provider monitoring your use of Internet and e-mail

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	29%	32	28	10	1

D. Companies that keep records on your Internet usage which they then use for marketing purposes

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	35%	38	20	6	1

E. Misuse of your credit card information that you give out on the Internet

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	46%	36	15	1	2

F. Someone forwarding your e-mails to people you did not want to read them

 

	Very concerned	Somewhat concerned	Not too concerned	Not at all concerned	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	19%	31	36	14	*

Do you think the Federal government should pass more laws to ensure citizen's privacy online -- or are the current laws sufficient?

 

	Yes, should pass more laws	No, current laws are sufficient	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	66%	33	1

Please indicate how comfortable you feel about giving the following information out over the Internet -- [RANDOM ORDER].

A. Date of birth

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	13%	34	23	30	*

B. Credit card number

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	5%	28	30	37	0

C. Social Security number

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	1%	10	16	73	*

D. Street address

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	11%	38	24	27	*

E. Home phone number

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	7%	28	28	37	*

F. Work phone number

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	17%	36	19	24	4

G. E-mail address

 

	Very comfortable	Somewhat comfortable	Not too comfortable	Not at all comfortable	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	34%	44	19	3	0

In general, how confident are you that if you use a credit card to pay for something on the Internet, the credit card number will be secure and not stolen or misused in some way? Are you -- completely confident, very confident, somewhat confident, not too confident, or not at all confident?

 

	Completely confident	Very confident	Somewhat confident	Not too confident	Not at all confident	No answer
2001 Jun 14-25	2%	20	48	16	14	*

*Less than 0.5%