Leap of Faith:
Using the Internet Despite the Dangers
Results of a National Survey of Internet Users for Consumer Reports WebWatch
A Consumer Reports WebWatch research report, prepared by Princeton Survey Research Associates, 1211 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 305, Washington, D.C. 20036
Consumer Reports WebWatch
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Abstract
Web users are demanding more of Web sites while becoming less trustful of them, and are adjusting their behavior in response to what they see as real threats online. In fact, almost a third say they are cutting back their Web use, according to a national survey and report prepared for WebWatch by Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI).
The report, Leap of Faith: Using the Internet Despite the Dangers, is based on a poll surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,501 Web users in the United States age 18 and over. The report revisits a similar national poll WebWatch and PSRAI conducted and released in 2002, A Matter of Trust: What Users Want From Web Sites.
For all online users, the report found that concern about identity theft is substantial, and is changing consumer behavior in major ways. Four in five Internet users (80 percent) are at least somewhat concerned someone could steal their identity from personal information on the Internet. Nearly nine out of ten users (86 percent) have made at least one change in their behavior because of this fear: • 30 percent say they have reduced their overall use of the Internet.
• A majority of Internet users (53 percent) say they have stopped giving out personal information on the Internet.
• 25 percent say they have stopped buying things online.
• 54 percent of those who shop online report they have become more likely to read a site’s privacy policy or user agreement before buying.
• 29 percent of those who shop online say they have cut back on how often they buy on the Internet.
The 2005 poll also asked users about their thoughts and behaviors regarding trust and credibility online, news and information sites, children's Web sites, financial services sites, digital imagery integrity and other issues.
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