How worried are people about their online privacy on this, the seventh annual International Data Privacy Day?
Forty-five percent say online privacy is more important than national security, according to a new report out today by TRUSTe, the data privacy management company.
Online trust remains at a three-year low, with just 55 percent of U.S. Internet users trusting most companies with their personal information online, according to the study derived from two online surveys of about 1,000 U.S. Internet users.
Just 45 percent disagreed with the statement personal online privacy is not as important as national security.
More than 70 percent of Internet users reported changing their online behavior. Among things that users are doing:
- 57 percent have not clicked on an online ad
- 51 percent withheld some personal information they were asked for it
- 35 percent have not downloaded an app/product
- 25 percent stopped an online transaction before completing it
- 63 percent say they have deleted cookies
- 44 percent have changed their privacy settings on their browser or social media sites
- 25 percent have turned off location tracking on their smartphone
There are steps Internet companies can take to reassure customers, such as asking for permission before using cookies and offering ways to opt out of targeted ads, TRUSTe said in a press release. For example, 30 percent would like companies to say how their personal information is used.
Illustration from MCT archives
