Online consumers are increasingly savvy about being online, but many still do not employ all of the right tools to protect their privacy according to the results from Anonymizer’s second annual online privacy and security survey. While 95% of respondents took precautions to protect their privacy online, the two most popular methods – running anti-virus software (77%) and enabling a firewall (60%) – do not provide adequate safeguards against online privacy and security risks. These measures only protect a consumer’s computer system, not their privacy or identity. When it comes to social networking, 56% of respondents are aware that being on Facebook means compromising their privacy. Despite these concerns, 29% had no plans to leave the popular social networking site. Other survey results include:
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Behind firewalls and anti-virus software, rounding out the list
of the top five most popular privacy protection methods are: not
storing credit information on e-commerce sites (44%), exercising caution
when creating and using passwords (36%), and setting the highest
possible security settings on social media sites (28%).
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Consumers are unsure about whether Facebook sells personal and
behavioral data to advertisers. The majority of respondents (61%) are
unsure; 29% believe their data is sold; 10% do not believe their data is
sold.
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Overall, 66% of survey respondents indicated concern over
websites and search engines collecting information as they surf the
Internet.
When asked what makes them most nervous about being online, the top responses were:
- Having their bank account and credit card information stolen (31%)
- Computer viruses (19%)
- Having their online personal information hacked and stolen (17%)
