Americans Concerned Personal Information Will Not Be Private, Secure on Internet
Monday, 27 March 2006
Sixty-eight percent of the public is concerned that their personal and financial information would not be kept private and secure if it were placed on the Internet, according to a new survey commissioned by Taxsoftware.com, a Bethesda, MD-based company which developed the first guaranteed secure Internet-based income tax preparation program. This finding is down from 83 percent in a similar national poll conducted nine years ago.
The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted March 17-19, 2006, by Synovate, and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percent. The survey found that 68 percent of all Americans are "very" or "somewhat" concerned that if they prepared their income tax returns on the Internet, their personal and financial information would not be kept private and secure. Thirty percent said they had no concerns.
Edward Segal, a spokesperson for Taxsoftware.com, which stores data on the user's computer thus ensuring that the user has ownership and control of their own tax information, observed that a growing number of people are apparently becoming complacent about Internet security. "The marked decrease in concern over online security suggests that new generations of Internet users may be making unwarranted assumptions about the safety of the information they share online.”
The latest survey results were announced as millions of Americans continue working to meet the April 17 deadline for filing their state and federal income tax forms.
"When it comes to protecting their personal information and sensitive financial data, the overwhelming majority of Americans continue to believe that the Internet may be the equivalent of a giant sieve, and offers little peace of mind on matters related to privacy and security," Segal said.
The public's concerns about Internet security in a similar 1997 consumer survey were shaped by, among other things, a warning from a presidential commission that the nation's computer networks were vulnerable to attack and sabotage and news reports of hackers who were known to have tampered with or illegally accessed information on the Internet sites of such security conscious institutions as the Pentagon, CIA and FBI.
"Based on the Internet's proven and continued vulnerability to vandalism, tampering and break-ins over the last nine years, the American people have good reason to continue to be more worried and skeptical – not less – about cyber-security. Until adequate and fool-proof protective measures are in place, it's doubtful that the Internet will ever be able to achieve its full potential or be completely trusted by those who use it," Segal said.