TNS and TRUSTe launch a new quarterly Consumer Privacy Index to track attitudes toward privacy -- and it shows that consumer education is needed.

TRUSTe has partnered with TNS, the world’s second-largest survey and market information company, to launch the Consumer Privacy Index, a quarterly study of consumer attitudes and behaviors on privacy topics. Privacy professionals, consumer advocates, and the media can use this new index to benchmark the value that individuals place on their personal information.

"Companies are collecting and using information in more beneficial ways than ever,” says Fran Maier, executive director and president of TRUSTe, “but daily advances in technology introduce new threats to privacy and have the potential to erode trust between legitimate businesses and consumers.”

The index, which will be calculated quarterly based on consumer surveys, is designed to monitor overall consumer perceptions of the benefits and risks associated with online transactions. It also tracks consumers’ reactions to new privacy issues as they arise. Survey participants are asked questions such as “What actions have you taken to protect your privacy in the past six months?” and “Can you protect yourself online?”

Results of the initial survey found that many of the 1,068 participants were skeptical of the necessity of giving their personal information to online businesses. Almost three-fourths (71%) don’t like registering at Web sites they visit, and 15 percent refuse to register at all. Some 43 percent stated they do not trust companies to not share their personal information.

Furthermore, consumers appear to have low expectations of the benefits that they receive as a result of sharing their information. Sixty-five percent of the survey participants said that they had received an expected benefit or value from providing their personal information to a Web site, and 10 percent said that companies had exceeded their expectations. One out of four respondents said they were less than impressed with the return on the information they provided.

"TNS and TRUSTe are both dedicated to helping organizations understand industry best practices when it comes to collecting and using consumers’ personal information,” said David Stark, privacy officer of TNS. “Our intention is to build a knowledge base that spans a variety of sectors and helps businesses adapt to changing consumer perceptions on privacy.”

You can find the first Quarterly Privacy Index report on the Materials & Reports page of the TRUSTe Web site. Check back regularly for updates.

 

AppLabs Technologies