Majority Of Internet Users Worried About Online Privacy

The majority (80.1%) of Internet users are concerned about the privacy of their personal information such as age, gender, income and online activity, according to a new survey from Burst Media.

Concern about online privacy is common among all age segments, and increases with the respondent’s age from 67.3 percent among those 18-24 years to 85.7 percent of those 55 years and older.

Online privacy is a prevailing concern for web surfers," said Chuck Moran, VP of Marketing for Burst Media. "Advertisers must take concrete actions to mitigate consumers’ privacy concerns and at the same time continue to deliver their message as effectively as possible."

"In addition and as recently seen in the news flare up regarding Facebook’s privacy controversy, publishers need to be completely transparent about their privacy policies."

The survey also found that most Internet users believe Web sites are tracking their behavior online. More than half (62.5%) of respondents believe it is likely that a site they visit collects information on how they navigate and interact with it.

Most Internet users are not willing to give up their personal privacy for more relevant advertising. Based on the description "advertisements more relevant to interest," only 23.2 percent of respondents would not mind if non-personally identifiable information was collected if ads were better targeted.