Research Shows We Care More Than Ever About Internet Privacy���but What are We DOING About It?
According to a survey of 3,000 Internet users in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, 80 percent of us flatly believe we have a right to privacy when going about our business on the Internet. The survey also revealed that the number of people who think technology companies have no right to share a user���s personal data is on the rise ��� 57 percent of those surveyed said that.
The survey also showed that Americans, in particular, care about what an elected official���s stance is on Internet privacy, with 81 percent of U.S. respondents saying that the presidential candidates��� positions on privacy are relevant issues. As a matter of fact, the majority of American respondents said that a candidate���s position on the subject of data privacy would actually influence their vote.
One of the figures that particularly struck me was that, among all survey respondents, a full 88 percent said they would be interested in a simple, ���one-click��� type of encryption mechanism that would allow for the encryption of outgoing email, or that might be made a standard feature of various platforms and applications. In part, this information tells us that the interest, at a groundswell level, in useful Internet privacy solutions is there, but that most Internet users struggle with how to secure for themselves even the most basic of privacy protections.
While I think, for a wide variety of reasons, encryption as a standard feature of Internet applications is a long way off���and may likely never be realized���there are things that you can do today, right now, to greatly insulate yourself from prying Internet eyes. They may not be ���one-click��� solutions to your privacy concerns, but they don���t take much time or money at all to implement, and can go a long way to provide you with the peace of mind you���ve likely long been without when surfing the web. A fantastic resource for those answers is The Patriot Privacy Kit ebook, something we have previously recommended. The Patriot Privacy Kit provides a ton of useful information on how to stay safe online, including how to secure your computer hardware and software platforms, how to be a good steward of your all-important passwords, how to use email more securely���even how to surf the web anonymously.
This ebook also looks at what you need to know to be safe as a regular user of social media, including the ubiquitous Facebook, and also includes great information on how to secure your sensitive information offline (even in this ���Internet age,��� most ID theft still takes place that way, from the compromise of documents in a physical form). Something else - The Patriot Privacy Kit comes with a fantastic money-back guarantee, which means you can read and use the information through and through���and if you���re still not satisfied, you can get all of your money back, with no fuss. If you want to learn more about The Patriot Privacy Kit, Click Here.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr.
