Consumers Hold Individual Web Sites Accountable for Privacy Protection.Business Editors and High Tech Writers BURLINGAME Burlingame, city (1990 pop. 26,801), San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; founded 1868, inc. 1908. Burlingame is mainly residential, with light manufacturing (plastic and metal products, furniture, and computers). The city is named for U.S. diplomat Anson Burlingame. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2000 Active Research Study Reveals Strong Distrust of All Sites, But Great Majority Willing to Share Information Anonymously Active Research, an Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the market research company, today announced the results of a survey that measured e-commerce e-commerce, commerce conducted over the Internet, most often via the World Wide Web. E-commerce can apply to purchases made through the Web or to business-to-business activities such as inventory transfers. consumer attitudes about online privacy. Of 922 individuals surveyed, 45 percent hold individual Web sites accountable for protecting their personal information. Yet 74 percent say they are willing to share unidentifiable Adj. 1. unidentifiable - impossible to identify identifiable - capable of being identified information with sites such as age, gender and zip code zip code System of postal-zone codes (zip stands for “zone improvement plan”) introduced in the U.S. in 1963 to improve mail delivery and exploit electronic reading and sorting capabilities. . Other findings include: -- High Distrust: Regardless of the type of e-commerce site visited, a majority of consumers are still wary about privacy protection. The major types of shopping destinations are equally distrusted, although retailers scored the highest level of trust -- Anonymity Preferred: Ninety-one percent are willing to share opinions anonymously if they can influence the organization requesting their viewpoint. Whereas, 57 percent of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. say they are unwilling to share personally identifiable information In information security and privacy, personally identifiable information or personally identifying information (PII) is any piece of information which can potentially be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person. (e.g., name and contact information) -- Age Matters: Consumers aged 20-34 indicate more willingness to release unidentifiable information than other age groups (85 percent), while those over age 45 are the least willing (45 percent) -- Individual Over Government: Government scored third overall (14 percent) after individual sites and self-policing (24 percent) to protect personal information, while industry watchdog groups rated the lowest (five percent). Men prefer the Government as the protector protector /pro·tec·tor/ (-tek´ter) a substance in a catalyst that prolongs the rate of activity in the latter. of online privacy nearly twice more often than women "Because most consumers believe that the Web sites they visit should responsibly safeguard their personal information, they send a strong message to e-commerce companies," explained Tom DuBois, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Active Research. "The message is: 'collect only aggregate data on me, unless I agree consciously to share identifiable information with you in exchange for concrete benefits.' What is encouraging is that individuals seem willing to voice their opinions anonymously in surveys like this, especially if they can influence the future product and service offerings of retailers and manufacturers." Active Research's independent consumer privacy survey was completed March 21. Findings have a margin of error of plus or minus three percent. Active Research Survey Methodology Active Research continuously collects information from hundreds of thousands of e-commerce consumers directly at the point of shopping at more than 35 portal and consumer information sites. Through its partner network, Active Research can measure actual consumer behavior and deliver statistically accurate results within days from its ActiveFlash survey service. All information is collected with the shopper's permission. Anonymity is strictly enforced and the individual's identity rigorously protected. About Active Research Active Research provides Web-based Market Research Automation services to help businesses attract and understand buyers. The company is the first to offer real-time 1. real-time - Describes an application which requires a program to respond to stimuli within some small upper limit of response time (typically milli- or microseconds). Process control at a chemical plant is the classic example. market intelligence services that enable product manufacturers and retailers to understand and respond to changing customer demands. Market intelligence is generated through a network of portal, content and merchant partners that host buyer's guides powered by Active Research. Complete and unbiased, these buyer's guides help partners attract and retain customers. Founded in 1997, Active Research is based in Burlingame, Calif. and on the Web at www.ActiveResearch.com and www.ActiveBuyersGuide.com. |
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