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Consumers Worried by Online Tracking
TNS and consumer privacy organization TRUSTe have released the results of a study into US Internet users' knowledge, attitudes and concerns about behavioral targeting and online privacy.
The results show a high level of awareness of the existence of tracking activities for the purposes of targeted advertising, and a high level of concern about it, even when not associated with personally identifiable information.
The research comes as consumer privacy groups and individuals in the UK and US lock horns with new software suppliers and online service providers eager to exploit the potential offered by targeting. In the survey, 71% of respondents were aware that their browsing information may be collected by a third party for advertising purposes, but only 40% say they are familiar with the term 'behavioral targeting'. A majority - 57% - say they are not comfortable with advertisers using browsing history to serve relevant ads, even if that history cannot be linked to their names or any other personal information. Fully 42% of consumers say they would sign up for an online registry to ensure that advertisers are not able to track browsing behaviors, even if as a result they would receive less relevant ads.
'...no matter how much we assure anonymity, there is still significant discomfort with the idea of tracking' according to Fran Maier, Executive Director of TRUSTe. 'We have a solid indication that consumers want us to find a way to get them the advertising that is relevant to them. In order to do this, behavioral targeting is one of the most promising methods, but at the very least, it has to be made more transparent, provide choices, and deliver real value.'
TNS conducted an online survey among 1,015 randomly selected American adults whose households belong to its online consumer panel, in the first five days of February, weighting results to reflect the demographic composition of the online US adult population.
TRUSTe, which helps consumers and businesses identify trustworthy online organizations through its Web Privacy Seal, Email Privacy Seal and Trusted Download Programs, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2007. Web sites are at www.truste.org and www.tnsglobal.com .
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