Online marketers have little confidence in self-regulation of Internet privacy standards

[September 26th 2000]

Reflecting continued widespread consumer concern about online privacy protection, an IntelliQuest survey sponsored by Responsys.com shows that only 36 percent of marketers participating in this survey believe industry self-regulation of privacy issues by Internet businesses is adequately protecting the rights of online consumers. Ninety percent of marketers said that the current system of self-regulation is working for their company, but only 46 percent said that it is working for the industry in general.

According to Responsys.com, results of the survey also reveal a "privacy gap" between users' and businesses' views on Internet privacy. The IntelliQuest survey found that a large proportion of businesses - almost half - believe that consumers feel their online privacy rights are being protected, while a recent survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 84 percent of Internet users are concerned about Web sites having their personal information.

In addition, the Pew survey found that 79 percent of Internet users believe their online movements are tracked, and only 54 percent have ever given personal information to a Web site, yet only 30 percent of businesses in the IntelliQuest survey reported collecting personal information.

"The survey results confirm that consumers and businesses alike have little confidence in the current system of industry self-regulation with regard to online privacy," said Anand Jagannathan, president and CEO of Responsys.com. "In order to bridge the privacy gap and keep online commerce on its current growth curve, it is essential that businesses, consumer groups and government work together now to agree on common-sense, effective online privacy standards. Responsys.com plans to take a leadership role in this effort."

Sixty-one percent of marketing decision-makers surveyed believe that government involvement is inevitable, and 64 percent think that government involvement will ultimately hurt the growth of e-commerce. At the same time, 92 percent believe consumers would purchase more goods and services online if they felt more confident about Internet privacy protection than they do today.

Links
IntelliQuest		http://www.intelliquest.com
Responsys.com		http://www.Responsys.com