Vast number of Americans have stopped using Internet as before

[IDemo]

Nearly half of all U.S. Internet users say privacy and security concerns have stopped them from doing basic things online, such as posting to social networks, expressing opinions in forums or even buying things from websites, according to a government survey released Friday.

This chilling effect, pulled out of a survey of 41,000 U.S. households who use the Internet, show the insecurity of the Web is beginning to have consequences that stretch beyond the direct fallout of an individual losing personal data in breach. The research suggests some consumers are reaching a tipping point where they feel they can no longer trust using the Internet for everyday activities.

"Every day, billions of people around the world use the Internet to share ideas, conduct financial transactions, and keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues," wrote Rafi Goldberg, a policy analyst at the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, in a blog post introducing the data. "But for the Internet to grow and thrive, users must continue to trust that their personal information will be secure and their privacy protected."

The survey showed that nearly 20 percent of the survey's respondents had personally experienced some form of identity theft, an online security breach, or another similar problem over the year before the survey was taken in July. Overall, 45 percent said their concerns about online privacy and security stopped them from using the Web in very practical ways.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/ct-wp-internet-habits-security-bsi-20160514-story.html

[corkhead]

1. I fall in that category. The tracking done by Google and Facebook creeps me out and has directly

influenced how I use them both.

[roguevalley]

8. you can shut down beacons.

[corkhead]

13. Yup, I think Adblock and/or Ghostery are taking care of that.

I also make a point to log myself out of them when I am not using them.

[airplaneman]

2. I am getting there too

Four computer crashes in the last year.
Two of them internet based including CryptoLocker.
Relatives on facebook turning against me.
An employer that would retaliate if I posted something they did not like.
I lurk more than post and don't really do much social media besides here.
Paranoia about being identified and caution when buying.
I see and feel the blowback.
-Airplane

[blackspade]

3. All by design.

Those with the power finally woke up to the fact that the internet run by the people will get out of their control.
By making our data vulnerable and systematically violating basic rights to privacy, the oligarchs seek to chill the use of the internet and its resources so that we will be ignorant of information beyond what our corrupt system wants us to 'know.'

[ejbr]

4. ...hmmm

interesting hypothesis. +1

[Judi Lynn]

11. So right. Thank you. n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. "as before"? Shouldn't that be "as never before"?

[IDemo]

7. It seems correct to me

"As before" in this case refers to their manner of Internet usage, not to the number of Americans making that change. It isn't the most elegant headline of the day, though.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. I only enable cookies for specific sites like DU, and only for "session" for shopping sites.

Never third party cookies.

I set the Do Not Track option (for what it is worth).

Firefox.

[LisaM]

10. A year or so ago I read that typewriters were making a comeback

for some governmental memos. The example I read was Russia, but it seems like a logical thing. I tet tired of being tracked with my bus pass and grocery cards....and on and on...

[Crash2Parties]

12. I refuse

to use any commenting system that wants me to give them permission to:

-make posts on my behalf (!)
-read my contacts list
-share my info

Which pretty much limits me to sites that handle their own comments or use the Disqus system. Maybe four or five years ago, most handled their own comments, then rather suddenly, Facebook was everywhere.

Insofar as shopping and the like online, I use the Internet more for that than ever before.

My use of private forums has remained roughly constant - thank goodness they still exist.