Anonymity, Privacy, and Security Online

Most Internet users would like to be anonymous online at least occasionally, but many think it is not possible to be completely anonymous online. New findings in a national survey show that

• 86% of Internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints
• 55% of internet users have taken steps to avoid observation by specific people, organizations, or the government.

Notable numbers of Internet users say they have experienced problems because others stole their personal information or otherwise took advantage of their visibility online. Still, the majority of Internet users do not believe it is possible to be completely anonymous online. Some 68% of Internet users believe current laws are not good enough in protecting people’s privacy online and 24% believe current laws provide reasonable protections. Most Internet users know that key pieces of personal information about them are available online. And growing numbers of Internet users (50%) say they are worried about the amount of personal information about them that is online—a figure that has jumped from 33% who expressed such worry in 2009. People would like control over their information, saying in many cases it is very important to them that only they or the people they authorize should be given access to such things as the content of their emails, the people to whom they are sending emails, the place where they are when they are online, and the content of the files they download.