|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
St. Louis Business & Technology News
www.slfp.com/SLFPBIZp.htm "When you think Saint Louis, think Saint Louis Front Page," a weekly publication covering the news and events in the greater St. Louis area. 
St. Louis Front Page P.O. Box 1354 St. Louis, MO 63188 Voice: 314-771-0200 Fax: 314-771-0300 To submit news, contact: editor@slfp.com To advertise, contact: advertising@slfp.com 
|
Many U.S. Adults Claim to Have Been Notified that Personal Information Has Been Improperly Disclosed ST. LOUIS, (BUSINESS WIRE), November 12, 2006 - An estimated 49 million adults in the U.S. indicate that they have been told that their personal information had been lost, stolen or improperly disclosed over the past three years. Most of this notification has come from government agencies and financial institutions. While many of these people do not believe anything has happened to them as a result of the lost information, a small but significant number do think that something may have happened. The Harris Poll(R) was conducted online by Harris Interactive(R) between October 4 and 10, 2006 among a national sample of 2,010 U.S. adults aged 18 or over. This survey was designed in collaboration with Dr. Alan F. Westin, Professor of Public Law and Government Emeritus, Columbia University, and noted authority on privacy issues. Specifically the survey found that:
* Merchandise was charged in their name (43%) * Some kind of fraud was committed that cost them some money (35%) * Money was taken from their bank account (18%) * A credit card was taken out in their name (11%) * Someone posed to get government benefit or service (8%) When analyzing the results by the types of organizations that have notified adults about lost or stolen personal information, there are interesting differences. For those notified by either financial institutions or government agencies, most adults (by 81% to 19% for financial institutions and 86% to 14% for government agencies) think that nothing happened to them. However, for those notified by other commercial companies such as a retail company, a telephone company or a company used on the Internet, the percentage of U.S. adults who feel that something happened to them is considerably higher (38%). One should be cautious in interpreting these results as the percentage of those who think they were notified by other commercial companies is small (12%). "We know from detailed studies of ID theft that many of these harms are caused by actions of friends and family of the victims, stolen wallets or purses, pilfering identifying information from mailboxes or trash containers, and from insider theft of personal data by employees of organizations," Dr. Alan Westin commented about the findings. "However, our survey shows that almost 10 million persons out of the almost 50 million persons notified of a data breach over the past three years believe that direct harm to them resulted from the breach. This documents the importance of business, government, and other types of organizations applying stronger data security measures when handling personal information -- if they are to retain the trust of their customers, members, or citizens."  
The Saint Louis Front Page is owned and maintained by the Moore Design Group for the sole purpose of disseminating news and information about the Metropolitan Saint Louis area. Text or graphics may not be copied, rewritten or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission. For more information, contact editor@slfp.com All rights reserved world wide © 1996 - 2008 Moore Design Group . |
| |||||||||||||||||||
