Privacy Gourmet

Privacy Research: What we say and what we do!

August 11 2008

– Eight out of ten people claim they would not give away income details online, but nearly all do, according to a recent study conducted by AOL.

The study, which involved research, executive interviews and a nationwide survey of 1,000 online consumers, found Internet users claim to be very conscious about their privacy and guarded about their personal details. Some 84% said they would not give away income details online, however, 89 percent actually willingly did – without any pressure or persuasion.

The findings also showed the expectation of privacy problems involving fraud is greater than the incidence of actual problems with 34% expecting credit card fraud, while only 11% having experienced it.

In addition, AOL’s research also showed that enhanced understanding about the opportunities and risks of online disclosure leads to lower levels of concern over privacy.

“Our research identified a significant gap between what people say and what they do when it comes to protecting sensitive information online,” said Jules Polonetsky..

The findings coincide with the UK launch of AOL’s privacy education campaign (http://info.aol.co.uk/penguin/mr-penguin.html). The campaign features an animated penguin to explain behaviourally targeted advertising for surfers of the Web. Through ongoing educational campaigns, AOL’s goal is to provide consumers with information about online advertising practices, the choice to opt-out and consumers’ ability to control their online experience.

Polonetsky further explained, “personalizing content and delivering relevant advertising online will only succeed for consumers and for advertisers if it is done in a trustworthy and transparent manner. In addition, business and government will need to offer approaches that recognise that at certain times personalisation and data use will be welcomed, and in other cases, users will demand limits on the use of their data.”

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said now that data protection and privacy have come of age it would be dangerous to ignore the opinions and attitudes of consumers even though there are sharp differences between what people say and how they behave.

“By taking a practical, down-to-earth approach to data protection and privacy, we can simplify good practice for the majority of organisations who seek to handle personal information well.  If organizations fail to meet their data protection obligations they not only risk enforcement action by the ICO, they also risk losing the trust of their customers.  However, it is equally important for individuals to be aware of their information rights and to take steps to protect their own privacy.  A good starting point is the ICO's extensive data protection guidance for organisations and individuals which can be found at www.ico.gov.uk.” Thomas said.

Here is a release describing some additional research AOL commissioned in the UK. The prominent brand consultancy Promise carried out the research and UK Information Commissioner Richard Thomas joined Jules Polonetsky to release it at the House of Commons.

London

Communicating about privacy and data use

In June, AOL conducted a survey of a thousand internet users in the U.K. and U.S. to better understand the best way to communicate about privacy and explain online data use. Download US_UKSurvey

Key Findings of 2008 AOL Consumer Survey on Behavioral Advertising

During the last week of January 2008, AOL conducted a survey of 1081 consumers (50% AOL users & 50% non-AOL users) to measure awareness of behavioral advertising and to determine the most important types of information that can be provided about such advertising.  The demographics were 33% each of 18-34, 35-54, and 55+, evenly split between male and female.

AOL’s research examined possible means for additional consumer education and notification about privacy.  In particular, the survey examined the specific types of consumer privacy concerns, and how various consumers would like to be informed about privacy and their choices.

The survey results underscore that “the consumer perspective” is not monolithic.  Rather, there is wide spectrum, not only in the depth of consumer understanding about privacy issues generally and behavioral targeting specifically:  there is also considerable variety among consumers in terms of a willingness to pursue additional privacy information; their willingness or likelihood of exercising an opt out; and the manner in which they would prefer to learn about privacy issues.

AOL’s research indicates that consumer attitudes are still evolving, and may depend on nature of the particular site or service that they use.  Thus, it continues to be critical for companies to experiment with varying modes of communication and privacy options in order to provide the best user experience.

Specific Data Highlights:

1. High Baseline Awareness of Privacy Policies:  Half of respondents claim to have read a privacy policy, and even larger numbers of users find privacy policies useful (79%) and easy to understand (62%).  However, among those who have read a privacy policy, 57% said the policy contained too much legalese or jargon, and 58% said the policy takes too long to read.  Only 42% of respondents said that they would stop what they are doing online to learn more about behavioral targeting, and even then only for a brief glance.

2. Additional Mechanisms for Privacy Education:  Some consumers prefer that Web sites use a variety of means to inform them about privacy.  They are interested in additional means of notice and education about behavioral advertising beyond privacy policy disclosures.  For example, 82% of respondents said they would like to see information about how a site uses behavioral advertising data in the form of “A paragraph describing behavioral advertising”, and 80% would like to see “a diagram of how behavioral advertising works.”  Younger consumers in particular were slightly more likely to prefer video, diagram, or cartoon information.

3. Propensity to Seek Out Privacy Information:  Overall, younger users in our survey appeared more likely to seek out privacy information, and more likely already to be knowledgeable about privacy issues.  Younger people (less than age 35) are slightly more knowledgeable about behavioral advertising than those age 35+.   The initial data suggest that younger people are possibly less likely to opt-out of behavioral advertising because of their greater awareness and understanding, but this area requires additional research.

4.  Specific Consumer Preferences for Privacy Information :  Users appear to be less interested in technical issues relating to behavioral targeting, or general policy issues related to these practices.  Rather, consumers appear to be more interested in learning specifically about whether personally identifiable or sensitive information is being used for behavioral targeting, and whether an opt-out is being provided to the sharing of their data across Web sites. Users identified the following as the most important piece of information that might be provided:

·        Whether behavioral targeting includes a person’s name or is anonymous (44%)

·        The sensitivity of the data collected (42%)

·        The ability for the consumer to opt out of sharing their data across websites (36%).