"Internet users want the 'Golden Rule' of the Internet to be: 'Don't do anything unto me unless I give you permission,'" said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project that ran the survey.
Some 86 percent of those surveyed said they favored the so-called "opt-in" policy for the release of personal information. That policy states holds that no personal information can be released unless a person taken pro-active measures in allowing a Web site to release any personal information to a third party.
"Internet users reject the notion that the government and Internet companies are the best stewards of their personal privacy," the survey says. "Two-thirds say Internet companies should not be allowed to track users' activities and 81 percent contend there should be rules governing how that tracking is done." The survey polled 2,117 people from May 19 through June 21; of those polled 1,017 were Internet users. The survey has a three percent margin of error.
The Pew survey shows that a majority off Internet users are like teenagers just discovering sex: they are afraid of the consequences, but are basically clueless as to how to protect themselves.
The Clinton administration and the Federal Trade Commission recently negotiated terms of a privacy policy with a consortium of Web advertisers that advocates the "opt-out" approach. In this approach, a company is allowed, de facto, to release any and all personal information unless specifically told not to by a consumer.
Internet users "want a presumption of privacy when they are online," Rainie said. "They want to be in control of information about what they do on the Web and they want vengeance on those who breach their privacy promises."
Nearly everyone responding (94 percent) said that firms and their top executives should be punished in some way for violating a person's privacy. If a Web site violates its own privacy policies, 11 percent of those responding said the person responsible should be jailed. Another 27 percent said the company's owners should be fined, 26 percent said the Web site should shut down, and 30 percent said the Web site should be put on some kind of publicly available black list of privacy violators.
A recent series of high profile online privacy snafus has driven the issue onto the national stage:
In June the Drug Czar's office was found to be using cookies on its Web site to track those accessing drug information. The policy was loudly condemned by privacy advocates, causing the Drug Czar's office to eliminate the practice. Fallout was felt across several federal agencies that also used cookies to track Web usage. Cookies were subsequently banned from all federal Web sites.
In July the Federal Trade Commission thwarted the bankrupt Toysmart.com from selling off its customer database to the highest bidder. Toysmart.com had promised on its Web site never to divulge that information.
And last month the Federal Bureau of Investigation came under intense congressional scrutiny when it was revealed that it used an e-mail snooping program called "Carnivore" to wiretap suspects' message traffic. In order to find the right information, Carnivore must sift through all incoming messages, including the e-mail of people not suspected of being involved in criminal activity.
Online privacy is now infused in the national consciousness, so much so that the Republican and Democratic party platforms addressed the issue directly.
The Pew survey shows that a majority off Internet users are like teenagers just discovering sex: they are afraid of the consequences, but are basically clueless as to how to protect themselves.
"There is a yawning gap between what Internet users want and what they know how to do," said Susannah Fox, principal author of the survey.
The survey showed that 86 percent of Web surfers are concerned about businesses or "strangers" obtaining their personal information or information on their family members; however, 56 percent of those same people didn't know that Web sites and online advertisers can track their every move on the Internet by using "cookies."
When users are given a choice to provide personal information or not gain access to a Web site, however, 54 percent said they have provided that information.
The survey has good news for companies that do use cookies to gather data: those that click on ads and those that shop online are largely unaware that cookies are stored on their computers, the survey says. Also, the survey found that 69 percent of Internet users have clicked on a Web site advertisement and that 46 percent have bought something online. And in a somewhat chilling finding, the survey reports that "almost 90 percent of Internet users who shop online are being tracked by cookies and many are unaware that is happening."
The survey also reports that online veterans are more knowledgeable about cookie intrusions than so-called "newbies." Sixty percent of people who have used the Net for three years or more know about cookies, compared to just 23 percent of new users.
Then there are the privacy outlaws; the survey says these are the people who use "guerilla tactics" to protect their personal information. The privacy rebels employ tactics such as using fake names and e-mail addresses (24 percent); inputting "secondary," seldom-used free e-mail accounts (20 percent); using encrypted messages (9 percent); and making use of anonymous Web surfing technologies (5 percent).
And though the survey punts on making any moral judgments related to such tactics, it does say that "young people and those with more online experience are also more likely to resort to lying in order to protect their personal information."
While the Pew survey underscores a growing uneasiness about privacy online, it also reinforces the well-worn maxim trotted out by industry groups whenever they come under scrutiny: There is no evidence of wide-spread privacy abuse.
"[T]here is no evidence in this survey that the Internet is a more menacing threat to privacy than activities in the offline world," the survey says.
In the case of credit card information being stolen, Americans should not be concerned that their information is more vulnerable because it has been given to an online site than to a restaurant, the survey says.
The survey found that only 19 percent of Internet users (representing 15 percent of all Americans) have been victims of credit card fraud or identity fraud. Meanwhile, "a vast majority of those who had been victimized (80%) said the theft occurred offline," the survey says. "Only 8 percent reported that the thief got the information because the consumer had provided it online," according to the survey. "That means that fewer than 3 percent of Internet users have had their credit card information swiped online."
Predictably, Internet users with less than six months experience online (15 percent) are the most fearful of privacy violations. However, the survey's authors said there is really no way to know whether such fears will "permanently limit their use of the Internet until their concerns about protecting personal information are met."
New user fears are driven mainly by concerns about the technology rather than first-hand experience with fraud or privacy violations, the survey says.
This newbie factor also has a direct impact on e-commerce, notes the report.
"This lack of confidence is reflected in the fact that Internet newcomers are also less likely to purchase products or services online," the report says. "Twenty-seven percent of users who got access within the last six months have bought something online such as books, music, toys, or clothing, compared to 60 percent of users who have been online for three or more years."
