Guest Article - Privacy Concerns

Most Internet Users Have Privacy Concerns About Their Online Searches
From: Rassmussinreports.com

"Most Internet users like the search engines available to them but worry about the privacy of their searches online. However, those who use the Internet most frequently express a lower level of concern.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 78% of Adults who regularly use the Internet are at least somewhat concerned about the privacy of their online searches, with 40% who are Very Concerned. Twenty-two percent (22%) don’t share that concern, but that includes just three percent (3%) who are not at all concerned. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Americans who use social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn and Twitter express a similar level of concern about the safety of their personal information on these sites.

Among those who use the Internet every day, just 37% are Very Concerned about the privacy of their searches. That figure jumps to 47% among those who go online several times a week and 59% who use the Internet once a week or less.

But 89% of those who regularly go online rate today’s Internet search engines as good or excellent in terms of finding the information they need.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 740 Adult Internet users nationwide was conducted on January 4-5, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

While there is a high level of general concern across all demographic categories, some groups show stronger degree of worry than others.

Men are more concerned about the privacy of their Internet searches than women are. Older Americans express stronger concern than those who are younger.

Some of the search engines themselves have been criticized for monitoring search traffic for business purposes. Law enforcement agencies have monitored the online activity of some Americans suspected of terrorist or other criminal activity. But 38% of voters believe the U.S. legal system worries too much about protecting individual rights rather than protecting national security, and just 22% take the opposite view. Thirty-two percent (32%) say the balance is about right.

One-in-three Americans (33%) say the current legal system worries too much about individual rights when it comes to public safety, while just 20% say it worries too much about public safety. Thirty-two percent (32%) believe the balance is about right.

But just 21% of voters think the Federal Communications Commission should regulate the Internet like it does radio and television."