Online Privacy Questionnaire

Click here if the survey is not working properly.

Thank you for taking interest in completing the TRUSTe Privacy survey. It should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. All responses will be tabulated anonymously, so please answer them as truthfully as possible.

I: Basic Usage and Demographic Information

  1. How long have you used the Internet?

  2. Do you subscribe to an online service (AOL, MSN, Compuserve, Prodigy, etc.)?

  3. How many times per week, on average, do you connect to the Internet?
    • From home?
    • From work?
    • From other locations?

  4. How many hours per week are you actively using the Internet?
    • From home?
    • From work?
    • From other locations?

  5. How often do you use the Internet for each of the following purposes?
    Purpose
    Entertainment
    Educational
    Work-related research
    Personal finance (banking, stock trading)
    Current events (news, sports, weather)
    Travel-related (research, reservations)
    Product information gathering
    Making purchases from online merchants
    Communicating with others (chat/email)
    Other:

  6. Where are you located?

    II: Perceptions About The Internet

  7. Rate your level of concern over the following Internet issues? (major concern, significant concern, minor concern, not at all a concern --pick one, from the pull-down list)

    It's too hard to use
    It's too hard to find what I want
    Someone could be monitoring what I do online
    It's too expensive
    Pornography is too easily accessible
    It's too cluttered
    It's too slow
    I get too much junk eMail
    My personal information will be stolen
    Someone will misuse the personal information I give them
    Information will be censored
    Other - Specify:

    III: Providing Personal Information Over the Internet

    Personal information is any information that can be attributed to you individually (name, address, email address, telephone numbers, names of family members, social security or credit card number, financial information, medical history, etc.)

  8. Have you been asked to provide personal information at web sites you visit?

  9. If asked to provide personal information, what percentage of the time do you refuse to give the requested personal information / leave the web site? %

  10. If you do provide personal information to web sites, what percent of the time do you provide false information (if at all)? %

  11. If you have refused to disclose personal information or given falsified information, how important to you were the following issues? (very important reason, somewhat important reason, not a reason--pick one, pull down list)
    You are unfamiliar with the company/individual running the site
    You don't trust the company/individual running the site
    The site does not disclose how they plan to use your information
    The value you will receive from the site is not worth the information you give
    You generally prefer to be anonymous
    They asked for particularly sensitive pieces of information
    You are concerned that the information will be intercepted or stolen
    It takes too much time to fill out the forms
    You are concerned you will receive junk mail if you give your home address
    You are concerned you will receive junk eMail if you give your eMail address
    Other - Specify:

  12. How important is the reputation of the company in your decision to give personally identifiable information to them over the Internet?

  13. How willing are you to provide personal information to web sites so that online advertisements can be targeted to your tastes and interests?

  14. Would you be more willing to provide personal information for online advertising purposes if the website compensated you for your information?

  15. Have you ever purchased anything online?

    If yes, how many times a year do you buy items online?

    If no, how likely are you to purchase items online in the next six months?

    IV: Perceptions About Internet Privacy

    Throughout this survey we will make references to privacy of personal information. Privacy is how businesses use the information they collect from you (e.g. for their own purposes or make available to third parties). Personal information is any information that is attributed to you individually (name, address, email address, names of family members, social security or credit card number, financial information, medical history, etc.)

  16. How important is your consent when ...
    • Sites sell/share your personal information with others
    • Sites track your movement around their site
    • Sites track your movement around the Internet
    • Sites track your online purchases
    • Sites gather in-depth personal profiles about you from other outside databases
    • Sites customize your online experience to your personal preferences

  17. Do you consider sites recording your Internet activity with your knowledge to be a violation of privacy?

  18. Do you consider sites recording your Internet activity without your knowledge to be a violation of privacy?

  19. How concerned are you about privacy of information (such as name, address, credit card number) given over the Internet compared with each of the following methods? (Please select one from each category)

    telephone:
    I am less concerned about privacy on the Internet than on the telephone
    I am somewhat less concerned about privacy on the Internet than on the telephone
    I have similar concerns about privacy on the Internet and on the telephone
    I am more concerned about privacy on the Internet than on the telephone
    I am much more concerned about privacy on the Internet than on the telephone

    mail
    I am less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than through the mail
    I am somewhat less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than through the mail
    I have similar concerns about transmissions on the Internet and through the mail
    I am more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than through the mail
    I am much more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than through the mail

    fax
    I am less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than via fax
    I am somewhat less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than via fax
    I have similar concerns about transmissions on the Internet and via fax
    I am more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than via fax
    I am much more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than via fax

    in person (restaurant, physical retail store)
    I am less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than in person
    I am somewhat less concerned about transmissions on the Internet than in person
    I have similar concerns about transmissions on the Internet and in person
    I am more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than in person
    I am much more concerned about transmissions on the Internet than in person

  20. If you are more concerned with information transmitted over the Internet than by traditional means, why? Please rate each of the following potential reasons as being a very important reason to you, a somewhat important reason to you, or not a reason that you are concerned about.

    It's not safe, someone could steal my information
    I don't know how my information will be used
    I don't know who I'm dealing with
    I don't trust the web site with my information
    I'm unfamiliar with how the technology works
    My privacy has been violated online
    I know of someone whose privacy has been violated online
    Other

    V: Privacy Practice Disclosure and Assurance

    Privacy practice disclosure indicates that a site willingly discloses to the user what it plans to do with information collected from the user. For example, it would disclose whether
    • it retains the information only for exchanges between you and that business,
    • makes it available to third parties, or
    • does not keep any information at all.

    Privacy assurance indicates that the site had its privacy practice disclosure reviewed by an independent organization to ensure they were in compliance with their stated practice. The independent organization would assign a privacy logo to those sites passing the review.

  21. Given the above descriptions of disclosure and assurance, how would your usage of the Internet change if websites disclosed their information, or disclosed their information and were reviewed by a third party assurance agent?
    CategoryConditionResult
    Entertainment With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Educational With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Work-related research With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Personal finance (banking, stock trading) With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Current events (news, sports, weather) With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Travel-related (research, reservations) With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Product information gathering With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Making purchases from online merchants With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance
    Communicating with others (chat/email) With disclosure
    With disclosure and assurance

  22. Given the above descriptions of disclosure and assurance, please indicate the condition under which you would disclose the following information to a web site operated by A COMPANY YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH - such as General Motors (check only one for each type of information).

    Type of Information No Privacy Practice Disclosure or Independent Assurance Disclosure WITHOUT Assurance Disclosure WITH Assurance Disclosure That Information Will Not Be Shared With Others Would NEVER Provide This Information Online
    Name
    Home mailing address
    Business mailing address
    Email address
    Social security #
    Date of birth
    Family information (childrens' names/ages, marital status)
    Product preferences
    Credit card/ banking/ stock portfolio information
    Medical information
    Salary/resume information

  23. Given the above descriptions of disclosure and assurance, please indicate the condition under which you would disclose the following information to a web site operated by A COMPANY YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF BEFORE (check only one for each type of information).

    Type of Information No Privacy Practice Disclosure or Independent Assurance Disclosed WITHOUT Assurance Disclosure WITH Assurance Disclosure that Information Will Not Be Shared With Others Would NEVER Provide This Information Online
    Name
    Home mailing address
    Business mailing address
    Email address
    Social security #
    Date of birth
    Family information (childrens' names/ages, marital status)
    Product preferences
    Credit card/ banking/ stock portfolio information
    Medical information
    Salary/resume information

  24. The following companies/programs specialize in addressing user privacy and security concerns. How familiar are you with the following companies and programs? (Very familiar, familiar, not very familiar, unfamiliar-pull down, pick one)
    AICPA Webtrust
    BBBOnline
    Pretty Good Privacy
    TRUSTe
    VeriSign
    Other:

    VII. Additional Demographics (optional)

  25. Age:

  26. Occupation:

  27. Annual salary in U.S. dollars :

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

Please add any comments here.

This questionnaire was developed by:
TRUSTe - an independent, non-profit, privacy initiative dedicated to building users' trust and confidence on the Internet