Persona and International Data Corporation Study Reveals Online Privacy Practices Can Increase Online Business Sales

Business Wire, Oct 9, 2000

Business Editors

BROOMFIELD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 9, 2000

According to "An Online Solution to Securing Privacy" IDC White Paper (released today), online businesses that post and follow strong privacy policies and give consumers greater control over the sharing and reselling of their personal information will most likely experience increased sales and a larger customer base of repeat customers. The white paper is sponsored by Persona, Inc., a pioneer in providing technology that enables online permission marketing and privacy management.

The white paper presents the findings of a survey of 779 online shoppers (conducted by IDC) to determine U.S. consumer perspective on online privacy. The white paper concludes that due to the greater awareness of privacy issues, "more than half of the survey respondents have decreased their visits to untrustworthy Web sites and are more concerned about giving information. Forty percent have left a Web site and nearly as many have deferred an online purchase at least twice due to privacy concerns."

The (IDC) survey also found that consumers are concerned about the online business sharing or selling personal information collected during online purchases. The issue that was most important to respondents was not knowing when, how, with whom and what type of information will be shared. Almost 60% of the respondents are concerned that Web sites will share or sell their personal information and most demonstrated a high degree of interest to use tools that protect their online privacy.

"We commissioned this survey to identify Internet shoppers' attitudes towards Web sites and providing personal information online, and most importantly, what Internet businesses can do to address their privacy concerns," said Karl Gamester, President of Persona. "It is now even more clear that enabling consumers to have control over any shared personal information and providing online privacy tools to manage their information will be instrumental in driving the anticipated growth of online shopping."

The survey revealed that consumers would like to know under what circumstances their personal information is shared with third parties, have the ability to view and edit the collected information, track the data after it has been shared with a third party, share in the benefits of information exchange and monitor and rate Web sites' privacy or information policies.

Some key results of the survey include:

-- 84% of survey respondents are much more willing to share information if they
have the ability to control conditions under which personal information is
shared

-- 83% are willing to share personal information in return for benefits, such
as a $100 gift certificate, if their personal information is kept confidential
as compared to only 42% who are willing to share information for the same
benefit if their information will be resold

-- 91% value privacy management tools and service that assure protection of
personal information when making online purchases

Funding the white paper and survey is part of an ongoing commitment by Persona to ensure a positive and safe online experience that benefit both consumers and online businesses. For access to the study's corresponding charts and white paper, please contact Kathy Daly Jennings at Persona.

About Persona

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colo., Persona, Inc. promotes business practices that represent a shift in consumer information management by providing permission and preference management technology. Persona's goal is to support marketing objectives of top-tier marketers by providing an independent framework for the protection, collection and use of personal information on the Web and beyond. Persona, Inc. is a Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE) partner company. For more information, visit Persona, Inc. at www.persona.com.