INDUSTRY SELF-REGULATION
PERCENTAGE OF POPULAR WEB SITES
POSTING PRIVACY POLICIES
- PERCENTAGE OF SITES COLLECTING INFORMATION:
98.2% of the top Web sites collect at least one type of
personal identifying information (e.g. name, e-mail, address,
postal address); 75% collected at least one type of demographic
information (e.g. gender, preferences, zip code). (NFO
Interactive Study, Online Retail Monitor: Branding, Segmentation
& Web Sites, 10/1999).
- SECURITY: Among the 24 million online
women who have not purchased online, 40% said they are
concerned about the security of the information they give
on sites. (Cyberatlas,
Jan. 2000).
PUBLIC OPINION
- PUBLIC PREFERS MARKET REGULATION: 2/3rds
of people using the Internet believe online privacy should
be market-regulated, rather than legislated, including
nearly 60% of registered Democrats and more than 70% of
Republicans. (@Plan,
Nov. 1999).
- PARENTS CONCERNED ABOUT CHILDRENS’
PRIVACY: Over 75% of parents are concerned that their
children might give out personal information and view
sexually explicit images on the Internet. (Annenberg
National Survey on the Internet and the Family, May
1999).
- PRIVACY: In May 2000, companies announced
more than 700 new privacy enhancing products and services,
ranging from email encrypting technologies to services
that provide surfers with online aliases. (OPA,
May 2000).
- PRIVACY COMFORT INCREASES E-COMMERCE:
66.7% of online "window shoppers" state that
assurances of privacy will be the basis for their making
online purchases. 80% said deep discounts would inspire
their first online transaction. (NFO Interactive Study,
Online Retail Monitor: Branding, Segmentation & Web
Sites, 10/1999).
- CONSUMERS PREFER CHOICE: 86% of Internet
users believe individuals should be able to make informed
choices on whether or not to give personal information
in exchange for free service or benefits; 12% see such
voluntary exchanges as invasive of privacy (Privacy & American Business
Survey, Feb. 1999).
- CONSUMERS WILLING TO TRADE INFORMATION
FOR FREE SERVICES: 79% of Internet users feel it is fair
for people receiving free service or benefits to agree
that banner-type ads for products and services appear
on their PC. (Privacy
& American Business Survey, Feb. 1999).
- CONSUMERS SUPPORT TRACKING INDUSTRY
TRENDS: 87% of Internet users feel it is fair to collect
information about consumer interests and preferences for
statistical analysis of interest and buying trends among
net users (Privacy
& American Business Survey, Feb. 1999).
- CONSUMERS’ MOST PRESSING PRIVACY
ISSUE (Center
for Democracy & Technology Survey, 1998).
- Sale of personal information --
42%
- Tracking people's use of the Web
--32%
- "Spam" (junk e-mail) --
18%.
- CONTENTS OF SPAM: 30.2% of all unsolicited
email is pornographic, 29.6% consists of "get rich"
offers, 23.5% of spam e-mail seeks to sell other products
or services, 9.9% offers health products, and 3.3% offers
entry into sweepstakes or gambling. (ChooseYourMail.Com,
Summer 1999).
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- PLEASE BE ADVISED:
- Research organizations differ
on many measurements and predictions. Cisco Systems cannot
verify the accuracy of all of the findings. We include
all credible information to offer a glimpse into the range
of estimates and predictions.
- Abbreviations / acronyms
used herein are defined and explained more fully in the
issue briefs available at Cisco’s public policy page.
Most common acronyms include DSL (digital subscriber line
service, which is high speed Internet access over telephone
lines); WAN (wide area network connections link different
organizations such as schools across a region); LAN (local
area network connections link computers within an organization)
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