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Privacy Fears Deterring Almost Half of American Households From Online Shopping (bbc.com)
Many Americans are growing increasingly concerned about privacy and security. According to a survey, almost half of American households with at least one Internet user have been deterred from online activity recently. The online activity includes doing online transactions, banking, and posting things on social media, said the survey of 41,000 households by a Department of Commerce agency. BBC reports: When respondents were asked what concerned them the most about online privacy and security, 63% said identity theft. The respondents, who were allowed to give multiple answers, also cited credit card or banking fraud (45%), data collection by online services (23%), loss of control over personal data (22%) and data collection by the government (18%); 13% also said they were concerned about threats to personal safety. The data suggested 19% of US online households had been affected by an online security breach in the previous year. The NTIA said this represented about 19 million American households.
...and then try to tell us it's half of everyone. Sensationalist garbage reporting. Online shopping is doing just fine and isn't suddenly going away because of privacy concerns. Either people are lying to you, or the study is flawed. Probably the latter. Amazon sales figures alone have been steadily increasing by about $10-$20bn US a year. This isn't something you expect if there's a big panic going on that stops people from shopping.
They can simply do open WLANs which the phones log in to or detect you when you don't pay with cash. And one thing almost nobody hides when they go to a shop: their face. Camera face tracking technology is almost free these days, the shops can monitor you almost as good as online shops can.
I hope everyone is occasionally deterred from some online activities. Certain are just plain dodgy, like getting your news from the beeb. But exercising some caution is not the same as air-gap isolation.
People are getting fed up, good, they should be. Some are horrible with passwords and general security, that's in their control, and is their own fault. But, all of the other concerns are the fault of retailers, social media sites, and government spy programs. Those things need to change, and people leaving the affected services is a step in the right direction. Also, I couldn't help but smirk at "19% of US online households had been affected by an online security breach in the previous year..." That number is closer to 100%. If you're not hyper-vigilant about online security, you're being sniffed and snooped by the government, by Microsoft, by Google, by Facebook, by Amazon, etc.. People can't even look up the weather without their browser being raped.
You have risk everywhere, stores can have breeches of servers, employee's swiping your cards, even mail theft can gain access to information. I guess paying cash kind of eliminated data fraud but you risk being held up and your cash stolen. Most people who have had identity theft have either been careless, or they simple ended up being a victim because of a very smart hacking group which the end consumer has little ability to defend against. That is up to merchants, credit companies and the server storage managers to protect. I think online is as safe if you stick with vendors and web sites who use respectable security measures.
I've never understood why anyone worries about their credit card information when shopping online: it's literally the least-valuable information that I possess, insofar as its compromise will affect me.
I'm not liable for any fraudulent charges made with my card, and reporting mis-use is the work of a few moments (unless the bank notices it first and notifies me, in which case its even less work for me). A replacement card will be in my mailbox in a few days.
Is it a minor hassle to update the card number on file with various merchants I do business with? Certainly, and I'd rather such a situation if possible, but it's a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.
Other information -- social security numbers, for example -- are much more valuable to criminals (which is dumb: there really should be some better way of identifying someone), and it's a good thing such information is only rarely needed and asked for. In general, SSNs can't be changed and it's a huge pain to recover from identity theft, but a stolen credit card? That's a minor inconvenience, at worst.
FTA:
"[Our] initial analysis only scratches the surface of this important area, but it is clear that policymakers need to develop a better understanding of mistrust in the privacy and security of the internet and the resulting chilling effects."
Hmmm... "chilling effects". Are they worried about the chilling effect on sharing ideas and doing useful research? Are they worried about the effect on the Web as a kind of social hangout? (I mean the kind of 'social hangout' the Internet was before the 'play date' version, e.g. Facebook, emerged to co-opt the process and spoil the party). Do they care about the Internet as part of the social fabric? It seems to me they're primarily interested in the impact on companies' bottom lines, and couldn't give a toss about anything else.
As far as I'm concerned this is just another example of the impoverished view that the Web is merely another tool of commerce.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
"Privacy Fears Deterring Almost Half of American Households From Online Shopping"
Based on the above title, which of the following don't belong:
1) Online transactions
2) Online banking
3) Posting on social media
If you guessed 3 and 2, then correct. How much of that half is taken up solely by a reduction of social media posting? Online activity != online shopping. I miss the old days were people could be fired for publishing false or misleading stories/headlines. Today quality no longer matters, only clicks.
Aren't the venerable institutions of hospitals, insurances, lenders, CC companies, credit reporting serrvices, all asking for your crown jewel - SS# - or parts thereof and the bribed lawmakers allowing one unique key assigned to every person in the US used to index every fart one is doing the very cause of distrust? Try asking one of those mega $ corporations to please give me a dump of what personal data you store about me and see what respone you get - NIL! One needs to hire and pay a lawyer to make any impact at all.
...but I'm afraid to post them online.
Imagine standing at the checkout and the clerk pages the pharmacy over the PA for a price check on dragon dildos.
Have gnu, will travel.
I got a call from them not long after XP expired when there were precisely zero windows machines in the house.
I'm pretty impressed that they're willing to help Linux users.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
What "deterred" semms to mean here is that respondents actually thought about privacy and either chose to avoid a dodgy site or thought twice about posting something on social media. In other words, exactly what they should be doing. It doesn't mean anyone stopped using online services altogether.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
I think one reason why Amazon has been extremely successful is that they have been among the most diligent in protecting their retail web site from a hacker attack. They better be, given they are the world's largest online retailer and also a major provider of cloud computer services.
My parents are over 65 years old, my Dad a retired Sr. Electrical Eng. III who worked at Applied Materials and my Mom a (still working) computer lab educator (teaches kids computers). Neither of them will shop online, they outright refuse to give their credit card information to anyone. They are fine with email and browsing websites but have this mentality that credit cards are only for emergencies and should never be used for convenience. They still pay for groceries with a checkbook and for any store that does not accept checks they pay with cash. When I moved from CA to IL my Mom decided she wanted to buy me a winter coat so she mailed me a check and emailed me a link to the coat she wanted me to buy for myself. The closest they have ever come to shopping online was a brick-and-mortar store had a kiosk where shoppers could locate what they wanted and pay in-store with a check. LOL, meanwhile, I'm currently expecting 8 packages this week from 4 different websites (mostly Amazon).
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!