89% of Internet Users Willingly Divulge Personal Information

People don't know much about Internet privacy, although they do claim to be very careful about what they divulge when registering to certain websites or answering questionnaires. A study conducted by AOL, which included research, questioning various managers and asking for the opinion of 1,000 respondents, led to the conclusion that people rarely actually follow the privacy guidelines they claim to bear in mind.

Consequently, while 84% of the questioned people said that they would never offer information regarding their income on the Internet, 89% of them turned out to be doing that willingly. This leads to the conclusion that, although people are aware of the fact that their private information could be used for malicious purposes by third parties, they seem to forget about this the very moment a trustworthy institution questions them. On one hand, private information of this kind can be used by hackers, while, on the other, by advertising companies. The interest someone shows in a specific matter triggers a series of ads related to that.

The unbelievably high percentage of people who divulge some of their most private details in the blink of an eye determined AOL to launch a privacy education campaign that teaches people about advertising methods. At the same time, users are advised on how to manage their online activity, without becoming sure victims of what could be called an advertorial spam. The website that supports the campaign is built as a fable, with a penguin character that has to deal with common Internet advertising-related situations.

People need to learn about advertising practices - but advertisers need to leave room for free choice as well. "Personalizing content and delivering relevant advertising online will only succeed for consumers and for advertisers if it is done in a trustworthy and transparent manner. In addition, business and government will need to offer approaches that recognize that at certain times personalization and data use will be welcomed, and in other cases, users will demand limits on the use of their data." said Jules Polonetsky, AOL's Chief Privacy Officer.