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September 2016

NTIA Shares Insights on Privacy and Digital Divide Research at TPRC

On September 30, policy staff from National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will be participating in an annual policy research conference where they will be discussing important research about Americans' computer and Internet use habits. They will be presenting two working papers at the 44th Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (link is external) (TPRC), an annual conference on information, communications, and technology policy, which brings together researchers, policymakers, and advocates from the public, academic, and private sectors.

These papers shed light on important policy issues relying on data collected though NTIA's Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS Supplement). In the first working paper, Trust in Internet Privacy and Security and Online Activity (link is external), NTIA staff used data from the most recent CPS Supplement, which included questions on household privacy and security concerns, to identify certain indicators of distrust in security online. Their analysis reveals that Internet-using households with either serious concerns with Internet privacy or prior experiences with a security breach or harassment were more likely to report that they refrained from a range of online activities, after controlling for other factors.

The Digital Divide Is Closing, Even as New Fissures Surface

Access to ubiquitous and affordable high-speed Internet is essential to many aspects of modern society. The Internet can assist in activities like accessing employment opportunities, healthcare options, affordable housing, and educational resources. However, millions of Americans still do not use the Internet, and even among those who do, the speed, quality and form of access can vary greatly.

We seek to better understand the challenges faced by non-adopters and under-connected Americans using new data from the July 2015 Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. We find that the nature of the digital divide is evolving. As usage habits and technologies change, new disparities are appearing, even while others gradually narrow. New divides based on the cost of owning multiple Internet-enabled devices appear to be surfacing. To better understand the changing needs of underserved communities, we examine three important and emerging trends.

First, we analyze survey data from Internet non-adopters. NTIA added new questions to its 2015 survey in order to better understand why households report not using the Internet. We allowed households to report multiple reasons for not using the Internet, enabling us to better understand why some households are not online. We also asked whether households lacking home Internet service would subscribe to such a service if it were offered at a lower price.

Second, we look specifically at one group of low adopters: rural communities. Americans in rural communities may face a disadvantage based on cumulative impact of various barriers to Internet use. For example, rural areas often face high broadband deployment costs, and may lack local facilities that offer public Internet access (e.g., community centers). Together, these factors may further depress Internet use in rural areas among those demographic groups already facing disparities, such low-income households. To understand these issues, we compare Internet use for similar demographic groups in rural and urban areas. Research suggests that, particularly among groups traditionally affected by the digital divide, Internet adoption rates are lower in rural areas.

Third, we focus on the diversification of devices used to access the Internet. The proliferation of devices means more people have more alternatives for getting online. However, this trend may open up a new digital divide, based on whether an individual has access to the right type of device for a particular task. Using a smartphone to access the Internet, for example, has qualitative strengths and weaknesses compared to using a laptop computer. To better understand this new divide, we investigate device use, particularly for those most likely to be on the wrong side of the digital divide.

Stimulating greater Internet use is an important and widely-prioritized public policy goal. In considering the best strategies to reach this goal, it is important to have a full, nuanced, and granular picture of the digital divide. Looking ahead, policy makers need to better understand how this divide is evolving with Internet and technology usage. Our paper aims to address these questions.

Partisans disagree on news media’s best, worst traits

Americans are divided in what they consider the most positive and negative attribute of the news media, and much of that divide follows party lines: Conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats stand far apart in their views of what the media do best and worst.

Conservative Republicans, for example, are more likely to say that reporting biased news is the most negative thing the media do, while liberal Democrats single out poor choices in the news they cover or how they cover it. As far as the most positive thing the media do, Americans are mostly split between two traits. Three-in-ten describe the media’s most positive attribute as simply doing their job of reporting the news, whether in general or on a specific topic. (Weather and traffic tops the list of subject areas, named by 11% of U.S. adults.) Nearly as many say the news media provide a service to the public (25%), such as informing people or acting as a watchdog. The other most positive traits mentioned, though by no more than one-in-ten Americans, are the media’s reports on uplifting or positive stories (8%) and their practice of high journalistic standards (6%). Additionally, 8% say the news media do nothing positive.

Google prompts a Spanish language spike for ‘register to vote’ — especially in Florida

September 27 was National Voter Registration Day. To the extent that you were aware of this, it was probably because you, like me, were greeted with a prompt to ensure you were registered when you went to Facebook to see what some-guy-you-went-to-high-school-with's baby looks like. Or maybe you visited Google, where the daily doodle was focused on the subject.

If people clicked that, they were taken to a search page for "how to register to vote." Or, in Spanish, "registrarse para votar." After that push, Google saw a huge spike in searches for the Spanish-language phrase. Hispanic Americans typically vote at much lower rates than other groups. Census Bureau data suggests that Hispanics turn out for presidential elections at about the rate non-Hispanic white Americans turn out for midterms. There are a variety of reasons for this, but it has been a focus of Hispanic organizations for some time to boost those numbers. It has also been a priority for Democrats, particularly this year. Hispanics tend to vote more heavily Democratic than Republican, and activists see an opportunity this year given Donald Trump's disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants.

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