Press Releases

2007 Apr 10

BRITONS TAKE CAVALIER ATTITUDE TO RISKS OF INTERNET SHOPPING

• Over two-thirds (72 per cent) of British consumers acknowledge there are risks involved in having personal and financial information stored by websites but believe that these are not great enough to outweigh the benefits
• 73 per cent often feel they do not fully understand the risk of submitting personal data to websites
• 64 per cent find it useful to have credit card and other personal details stored by websites to save retyping on the next visit to the site
• Most people (59 per cent) are not aware that when clicking on a link in an email, the sender may be able to match their email address to their progress on the website
• Persistent adverts which block text, pop-ups and elaborate graphics which delay downloads are the biggest pet hates when using business websites

British consumers are happy to put their personal and financial information at risk if it means saving time on the internet, according to a new survey by The Aziz Corporation, the UK’s leading independent executive communications consultancy. The research shows that 72 per cent acknowledge that there are risks involved with having personal information stored by websites, but believe that these are not great enough to outweigh the benefits of having their details and preferences ready to be quickly retrieved on websites they often use.

Professor Khalid Aziz, Chairman of The Aziz Corporation, comments:

“It is important people are not afraid to question technology and what their personal information could potentially be used for. The caricature of Little Britain’s Carol Beer, “Computer says no”, is all too reminiscent of the fact that people defer to technology rather than using their common sense. You wouldn’t communicate your most personal financial information to a stranger on the street and yet this is effectively what can happen on websites.”