Public Opinion About the Internet and Information Technologies - E-crime

A Gallup poll conducted in October 2004 found that 8% of American households had been victims of a computer- or Internet-based crime. This figure represented twenty-four million people who had experienced such crimes as fraud or computer hacking. This was a 33% increase from October 2003 when only 6% of Americans (seventeen million people) said they had been victims of e-crime. Internet crime drove the overall incidence of household crime up from 25% to 30%, according to David W. Moore in "Crime Rate Steady: 3 in 10 Households Victimized Past Year" (Gallup Organization, December 3, 2004).

Privacy and Security Issues

At the heart of Internet crime lies identity theft and fraud. Most Americans seem to be aware of the problems surrounding identity theft, according to "Majority of E-mail

FIGURE 10.2

Users Express Concern about Internet Privacy" by Jeffrey Jones and Darren Carlson (Gallup Organization, June 28, 2001). Eighty-two percent of e-mailing Americans polled in June 2001 by the Gallup Organization were at least somewhat concerned about giving out personal information on the Internet. The same percentage of e-mailers was wary of the misuse of credit card information provided over the Internet as well.

Figure 10.3 displays the information that those with e-mail were very/somewhat comfortable giving out over the Internet. Only 11% of those who responded were at ease with giving out their social security number, and only 33% felt comfortable with providing their credit card number. Close to 50%, however, were comfortable with releasing their work phone number, street address, and home phone. (Though 78% said they were fine with relinquishing their e-mail address, all those who took the poll were required to do so.) A February 2000 Gallup poll revealed that roughly 88% of people who purchased information or products online used their credit card to do so.

In late January 2003 the Slammer/Sapphire worm spread worldwide around the Internet in thirty minutes, affecting thousands of host computers and shutting down servers of many major companies, including American

FIGURE 10.3

Express and Countrywide Financial Corporation. Shortly after this worm hit the Internet, the Gallup Organization asked Internet users about how the incident affected their perception of the Internet. Nearly 9% of those polled in February responded that the problems on the Internet affected them personally. A resounding 81% said that the viruses either delayed or prevented their getting to a Web site. Many peoples' overall confidence in the Internet was shaken. Twenty percent of Internet users said that the stories of the worms made them less likely to use the Internet, and 47% said they were less likely to use credit cards online.

According to Jones and Carlson in "Majority of E-mail Users Express Concern about Internet Privacy," twothirds of e-mail users in 2001 believed the government should pass more laws to ensure online privacy. In September 2000 Gallup had found that exactly half of all Internet users maintained that opinion. At the same time, however, Internet users in 2000 were wary of the type of government surveillance that could be used to effectively capture hackers or creators of viruses. Roughly two-thirds (63%) of online Americans said they were "very concerned" about government software that allowed law enforcement to tap into Internet e-mail to search for incriminating evidence. Sixty percent of Web users also said they were worried about powerful government databases, such as those proposed by the Department of Homeland Security, that contain extensive information on ordinary Americans.

The idea of corporations gathering personal information online and constructing databases troubled American Internet users as well. Jones and Carlson found in June 2001 that nearly three-quarters (73%) of e-mailing Americans were concerned about companies keeping track of their Internet usage, and roughly the same number (71%) were wary of Internet "cookies" that monitor their comings and goings on the Web. In addition, many (61%) were anxious about their Internet service provider monitoring their use of the Internet and e-mail.