Internet users are more concerned about their Facebook privacy than NSA spaying according to a new study by the Pew Research Group.
Released on Thursday the study find that internet users “are more intent on trying to mask their personal information from hackers, advertisers, friends, and family members than they are trying to avoid observation by the government.”
Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’sInternet and American Life Project, says “Users clearly want the option of being anonymous online and increasingly worry that this is not possible. Their concerns apply to an entire ecosystem of surveillance.”
The study finds that eighty-six percent of Internet users have taken step to mask their digital footprints. Users clear cookies, encrypt email, and take other generally accepted steps.
Thirty-three percent of internet users say their main goal is to avoid hackers and criminals while 28 percent simply want to avoid advertisers. Only five percent of internet users said they were worried about avoiding government surveillance.
Raine admits to the CSMonitor:
“There is a possibility that our questions were answered the way they were because people were thinking about their day-to-day activities … Advertisers – or avoiding advertisers – might be a more top-of-mind thought for users because they encounter advertising all the time online and probably have to think about their approach to it. In contrast, government observation just isn’t something that people directly encounter during regular Internet activities.”
Of course Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other internet service providers make the NSA’s PRISM project and other data mining easier by brining users together en masse.
Facebook may not be the NSA but the company is constantly engaged in lawsuits as it exploits user data as part of its advertising program.
Are you more worried about Facebook or the NSA spying on your internet-based information?
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