Excerpted from Inside 1:1 Privacy
Behavioral Targeting; American Attitudes and Awareness
TRUSTe, in collaboration with global market insight and information group TNS, conducted an online study on American Internet users’ knowledge, attitudes and concerns about behavioral targeting and its online privacy implications. The study indicates that though most Americans are aware that their Internet activities are being tracked for purposes of targeting advertising, there is a high level of concern associated with that tracking, regardless of any association with personally identifiable information.
* 71 percent of online consumers are aware that their browsing information may be collected by a third party for advertising purposes;
* Only 40 percent are familiar with the term “behavioral targeting;”
* 57 percent of respondents say they are not comfortable with advertisers using that browsing history to serve relevant ads, even when that information cannot be tied to their names or any other personal information.