Washington--Americans are worried about the privacy of their online information, and have little confidence the government will keep that data secure, a poll showed Wednesday.
The Pew Research Center survey highlighted ongoing fears about online privacy, with concerns about how data is safeguarded by the government, credit card companies, social networks, search engines and others.
Just six percent of adults surveyed say they were "very confident" that government agencies can keep their records private and secure, with another 25 percent saying they were "somewhat confident."
The confidence was at the same level for landline telephone companies, and marginally higher for credit card companies -- with nine percent "very confident" and 29 percent "somewhat confident" about the security of their data.
This was the third Pew survey on privacy since revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden stunned many Americans and angered US allies.
An overwhelming majority of 93 percent said being in control of who can get information about them is important to them, and a similar number said they want to decide with whom they share data.
But three out of four said they had little confidence about the security of records of their online activity tracked by advertisers, and two-thirds expressed similar concerns about social networks and search engines.
"In the almost two years that have passed since the initial Snowden revelations, the public has been awash in news stories detailing security breaches at major retailers, health insurance companies and financial institutions," said Pew researcher Mary Madden.
"These events and the doubts they have inspired have contributed to a cloud of personal 'data insecurity' that now looms over many Americans' daily decisions and activities. Many find these developments deeply troubling and want limits put in place."
A number of those surveyed said they had taken extra steps to protect privacy or private data, although few took drastic measures.
Some 59 percent said they had cleared browser histories or "cookies," while 57 percent refused to provide information about themselves that wasn't relevant to a transaction.
AFP
