AFFIRMATIVE PRIVACY — GENERAL 6

AMERICANS ARE INTENSELY AFRAID OF A LOSS OF PRIVACY

AMERICA'S NUMBER ONE FEAR IN THE 21^ST CENTURY IS LOSS OF PERSONAL PRIVACY

St. Petersburg Times, November 03, 1999, SECTION: EDITORIAL; EDITORIALS; Pg. 18A TITLE: A matter of privacy // acs-EE2001

When a recent Wall Street Journal poll asked Americans what they feared most in the coming century, the loss of personal privacy topped the list. It even outpaced terrorism on the public's fear barometer.

AMERICANS FEAR LOSS OF PRIVACY MORE THAN NUCLEAR WAR, GLOBAL FAMINE, OVERPOPULATION, AND TERRORISM

Mike Butcher, New Media Age, November 18, 1999; Pg. 26 TITLE: Privacy plays on US morality mind// acs-VT2001

They cited a recent ABC/Wall Street Journal consumer poll that found that top of the list of consumers' top five fears for the new millennium was "loss of privacy". And the rest of the list? Number two was global famine, followed by a third world war, overpopulation, and terrorism. It's fair to say, then, that US consumers, exposed to the ravages of the unregulated US direct-marketing industry, as well as the banner-strewn pages of the Web for the last five years, are fairly tuned in to the issues. In fact, most said they would endure a plague of anthrax before giving away their personal profile. And they said if self-regulation doesn't work, they want the government to step in.

PUBLIC BELIEVES PRIVACY IS A SERIOUS ISSUE BUT IT IS NOT NEAR THE TOP OF THEIR ISSUE CONCERN LIST

Conrad deFiebre; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) February 28, 2000, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1A TITLE: Trying to keep your business their business; Lobbyists representing diverse interests are working hard against bills that would protect privacy. // acs-EE2001

Proponents often cite public-opinion polls showing increased privacy concerns, with up to 90 percent of respondents saying businesses should get their approval before selling their personal information. A survey released last week by Himle Horner, a Bloomington-based public-relations firm, said that well more than half of Minnesotans are more concerned about privacy than a year ago and are more likely to buy from a company with strict privacy policies. But when the same survey asked respondents to list their priorities for this legislative session, privacy protection was nowhere to be seen. It didn't even register on a list headed by education, health care and tax cuts.

VAST MAJORITY OF AMRICANS ARE UNHAPPY WITH CURRENT PRIVACY SITUATION

BOB TRIGAUX, St. Petersburg Times, February 07, 1999, SECTION: BUSINESS; COLUMN; Pg. 1H TITLE: Consumers wake up to privacy intrusions // acs-EE2001

Privacy ain't what it used to be.

That's a lesson businesses and government agencies must learn, pronto, because consumers are waking up. A recent survey conducted by Louis Harris with privacy expert Alan Westin, publisher of the Privacy & American Business newsletter, shows:

40 percent of respondents think they have personally been victims of a consumer privacy violation. Credit card companies were considered most likely to have inappropriately released personal consumer information.

More than 80 percent think they have lost all control over how companies collect and use their personal information.

Nearly 80 percent say they have refused to give information to a business or company because they thought it was too personal and not really needed.

Only 51 percent say they think that U.S. businesses in general use the personal information they collect "in a proper manner."

Almost half say they have exercised an "opt-out'" option, telling a business they patronize not to include their name and address on lists sold for marketing purposes.