64% of US web users ignore privacy policies

Only 3% of US web users study privacy policies carefully and 64% of users either ignore them completely or only glance at them, according to a new consumer survey released this week by Harris Interactive.04 Dec 2001

The survey was sponsored by the Privacy Leadership Initiative (PLI), a coalition of US businesses and affiliated organisations aimed at empowering consumers to control how their personal information is used and shared off-line and on-line.

Among other findings:

  • 77% of respondents favoured a short, concise privacy policy;
  • 70% of respondents agreed that companies "should use the same summary or checklist for their privacy policies";
  • More than half of respondents identified six separate categories of information that they said were "very important" or "important" elements to be considered for a privacy policy;
  • Only 12 percent reported reviewing financial notices carefully; and
  • The top reasons cited for not reading privacy policies more carefully were a lack of time/interest and a high level of difficulty understanding the notices.
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