by Larry Ponemon

In March 2006, the Ponemon Institute, a think tank devoted to advancing responsible information- and privacy-management practices in business and government, completed a survey to ascertain what Americans think about surveillance in their daily lives. The overall findings of the survey suggest that respondents have mixed concerns about different surveillance methods, and their opinions vary based on both the context and the method of surveillance used.

We asked a representative sample of 889 individuals what they thought about 11 surveillance issues, including the following:

• Government or employer monitoring of emails and the Internet
• Video cameras in public restrooms and retail store dressing rooms
• Passenger screening at airports
• Spyware on personal computers
• Recordings of customer-service phone conversations
• Electronic (RFID) tags

The issues or possible practices of most concern:

About 90 percent of respondents either said they disapproved or were unsure about the use of telephone wiretaps by government.

More than 85 percent of respondents either replied “no” or “unsure” when asked if they approved of software on their personal computers (in other words, spyware) that monitored Internet browsing or shopping behavior.

More than 72 percent of respondents disapproved or were unsure about the use of electronic tags (RFID) that could be used to track products from short distances.

In contrast, the surveillance practices of least concern for respondents included the following:

• More than 66 percent of respondents do not mind having their telephone conversations recorded when contacting customer service representatives.
• About 57 percent of respondents do not mind having their employer monitor email and Internet activities in the workplace.
• The same percentage of respondents do not mind if the police department uses hidden cameras to monitor traffic or speeding.
• Slightly more than half (52%) of respondents do not mind being selected for additional passenger screening at an airport.

What factors do respondents consider important to their opinions or beliefs about surveillance? Our survey asked individuals to use a four-point opinion scale to rate four factors:

• Anonymity: the surveillance method does not capture or keep personally identifiable information
• Notice: the organization using surveillance provides public notice in advance of its use
• Controls in place to monitor the watcher
• Legal protection: individuals have legal recourse against organizations that abuse or misuse surveillance

As the graph below shows, most respondents considered all four factors “important” or “very important.” It is interesting to note that the two most important aspects of surveillance, for participants, were legal protection and controls over the watchers.

Analyzing the Data

When we calculated the average percentage of “yes,” “unsure,” and “no” responses across all 11 survey items, the largest proportion (47.4 percent) of the opinions expressed regarding surveillance scenarios were negative about the surveillance scenarios mentioned; “yes,” or approval, responses accounted for 37.3 percent of the total responses and “unsure” responses for 15.3 percent).

Our findings also revealed that respondents’ perceptions about surveillance are related to key demographic variables. On average, women appear to hold more negative perceptions about surveillance than men. Respondents with advanced education (such as graduate degrees) tend to hold the most negative perceptions. With respect to age, both younger and older respondents appear to hold more negative perceptions about surveillance than do individuals in the middle-age range.

In general, our findings suggest that Americans have mixed concerns about surveillance. On the one hand, employers appear to get a pass to monitor email messages and Internet use. On the other hand, governmental surveillance, especially the use of telephone wiretaps, is viewed very negatively by most people. It is also clear that Americans have emerging concerns about new tracking technologies such as RFID and implantable chips.

If you would like to ask additional questions about the Ponemon Institute’s research, quote from the report, or obtain copies of the full document, please contact us by email at research@ponemon.org or call (800) 887-3118.

Larry Ponemon, Ph.D., is chair of the Ponemon Institute.

 

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