Consumer concerns about sending personal data over the Internet remain a key barrier to e-commerce, but fewer consumers think government intervention is the answer than did last year, concluded a Business Week/Louis Harris & Associates survey released last week.
According to the survey, 78 percent of people who go online said they would use the Internet more if they felt the privacy of their personal information and communications were protected.
However, 50 percent of computer users last month said that government should pass laws now regarding the collection and use of personal data online compared to 58 percent of computers users who responded the same way last April.
“It is the responsibility of private enterprise to solve the issue of privacy in a way that satisfies everyone involved,” said Joseph Dionne, chairman and CEO of The McGraw Hill Companies, New York.
