IDENTITY THEFT AND SPAM WILL DETER ONLINE SHOPPING THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Small Online Businesses are Expected to be Hit the Hardest

San Francisco – December 1, 2003 – A survey conducted by market research firm NFO WorldGroup and sponsored by the nonprofit TRUSTe reveals that fears related to consumer privacy will have a significant negative impact on online shopping during the 2003 holiday season. The survey, which polled 1,212 consumers, also indicates that smaller e-tailers that do not post a privacy policy will lose sales.

Forty-nine percent of survey respondents indicated that fears related to the misuse of personal information will limit their holiday online shopping to some extent, including 5.6 percent who indicated that they will not shop online at all this year due to their concerns. Of this 49 percent, the three leading reasons for reducing or halting online shopping include concerns about receiving unwanted spam after purchasing a product, a fear of identity theft and the potential for credit card information to be stolen when making a purchase from a Web site.

The survey also queried consumers on their comfort level when purchasing from well-known online brands vs. lesser-known e-tailers. Results show that a significant number of consumers ­approximately 1/3 of the survey respondents­ were less willing to purchase items from a smaller online retailer than a large well-known brand. The respondents indicated as the primary reason a concern that smaller e-tailers are more inclined to misuse personal information.

"The results of this survey reveal that privacy fears will be the Grinch that stole Christmas for many e-tailers," said Fran Maier, executive director of TRUSTe. "The Internet was supposed to be the great equalizer ­ allowing small to compete with big. Yet this vision will never be realized as long as consumers are uncomfortable purchasing from e-tailers that don't put an emphasis on privacy."

The survey participants were also asked to what degree the presence or absence of a posted privacy statement or third party privacy seal impacted their willingness to provide personal information (credit card, name/address, email) to an online shopping site. 49.4 percent of the consumers polled stated that they would not purchase from an online site or provide personal information unless a Web site posts a privacy statement or privacy seal.

The methodology applied to the survey was the NFO Fast Feedback, a weekly Interactive omnibus survey fielded to a representative population of 2,500 U.S. Internet users. This study was fielded November 12, 2003 and yielded 1,212 qualified respondents. Complete results of the 2003 Holiday Shopping/Online Privacy survey are available upon request.

About NFO WorldGroup
NFO WorldGroup is one of the world's leading providers of research-based marketing information and counsel. "Marketing minds specializing in research™, NFO has facilitated Fortune 500 clients' business decisions for more than 50 years by providing in-depth knowledge and understanding of consumers and brands through research. Their services include comprehensive counsel on market evaluation, product development, brand management, customer satisfaction, pricing, distribution and advertising effectiveness. NFO is a worldwide leader in Internet-based research and maintains one of the world's largest Interactive panel communities. NFO WorldGroup is one of the TNS group of companies. (LSE: TNN). Visit NFO on the web at www.nfow.com.

About TRUSTe
TRUSTe is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information in the evolving networked world.

Founded in 1997, TRUSTe runs an award-winning global privacy certification and seal program. Its seal programs are considered Safe Harbors for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the EU Safe Harbor Framework. Today, TRUSTe maintains the largest privacy seal program with more than 1,400 Web sites certified throughout the world including AOL, Microsoft, IBM, Nationwide and The New York Times. TRUSTe's mission extends standards, certification and oversight into email with Bonded Sender and wireless with the Wireless Advisory Committee. For more information on TRUSTe please visit www.truste.org.

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Ponemon Institute