海角大神

Nearly聽half of Americans refrain from聽online聽activities聽such聽as banking or shopping out of security and privacy fears, according to a聽survey聽released Friday by聽a federal telecommunication聽agency.聽聽

Forty-five percent of households surveyed said that security and privacy concerns 鈥� including identity theft, fraud, data collection, and loss of control of personal data 鈥撀犅爁rom聽conducting online聽banking and shopping or posting about聽controversial or political matters on social networks,聽the聽National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) reported.聽聽

"NTIA聽will continue to analyze relevant data聽, as well as potential policies 鈥� such as encouraging the widespread deployment of strong encryption and other security measures 鈥� that could help build trust in the Internet and stimulate the free flow of information and commerce online,"聽reads the report. 聽

One set of policies the agency聽refers to聽are those included in a bill聽the White House introduced in spring 2015 that seeks to give consumers聽more control聽over the聽collection, storage, use, and sharing of聽their data,聽聽the 海角大神 Science Monitor's Passcode聽wrote.聽聽

Although industry and privacy groups have聽said聽the draft legislation聽falls聽short, they agree that it聽opens a much-needed conversation on how to provide聽consumers with more privacy and聽security. Leading technology companies, meanwhile, have started to offer聽top-level聽encryption聽to consumers, at a time when the world feels its online privacy is being intruded on.聽聽

The agency serves President Obama's聽adviser on telecommunication policies and the聽telecommunications聽industry. The US聽Census Bureau collected the data in July 2015 NTIA analyzed. 聽

The NTIA's survey of 45,000聽households聽offers a glimpse into聽American fears, as well as their effect聽on economic activity and聽information sharing. Of all the聽security and privacy concerns included in the survey, identity theft was the greatest:聽63 percent of households said they were worried聽about having their identities stolen. Forty-five聽percent of households said they were worried about banking and credit card theft. Twenty-three聽percent said they were worried about data collection by online services.

Because of these as well as other聽concerns, 29 percent of households said they avoided聽conducting financial transactions online, and聽26 percent said they聽avoided both聽buying goods or services online and posting on social networks.聽聽

"It is clear that policymakers need to develop a better understanding of mistrust in the privacy and security of the Internet and the resulting chilling effects," reads the report, referring to the聽freeze on economic activity and posting聽opinions聽on social networks that these fears can have.聽聽

The report comes at a time when Americans and Europeans are learning more about the extent to which cyber attacks聽and data collection compromise their privacy online. In fact, researchers just released data they collected from 70,000 users on the dating website OKCupid聽. 聽

The draft聽聽require companies, nonprofits, and other organizations聽to limit data collection and to spell out privacy policies clearly, get informed consent from users, and provide consumers with a way to correct errors in their records,聽Passcode reported.聽聽

Jules聽Polonetsky, executive director and co-chair of the Future of Privacy Forum, told Passcode that while he didn't expect the bill to gain traction,聽it聽should "help launch a聽conversation focused on more nuanced approaches to addressing business needs and consumer privacy issues."聽聽

Nicole Wong, the former deputy chief聽technology聽officer in the Obama administration and a Passcode columnist,聽agreed.听听听

"What we need today is a framework for a national discussion about privacy regulation, and that is what the White House has given us," she wrote in March 2015.聽聽

Technology companies,聽such as Apple and WhatsApp, meanwhile, are providing consumers with "military-grade" encryption, wrote John Naughton, a聽professor of the public understanding of technology at the Open University, in a Guardian opinion article.聽Apple's refusal to unlock the San聽Bernardino killer's聽iPhone for聽federal authorities聽highlighted the level of encryption they provide consumers with. WhatsApp, the聽messaging service with nearly one billion聽users, announced it will provide consumers with聽, preventing everyone expect a聽user receiving or聽sending a message聽from reading it.听听听