To test consumer awareness of privacy issues on the internet.

1. Consumer Awareness of
Privacy Issues on the Internet
Survey Findings
Prepared by WATConsult
August 2012
Privileged and Confidential

2. Research Objective & Methodology
Study Objective: To test consumer awareness of privacy issues on the internet
Methodology
Online survey conducted on pan-India basis
Robust sample of 600 respondents
Survey among active internet users
• Diverse background: age, gender and cities
• Diverse internet users: Search, Social Media, Blogs & E-commerce enthusiasts

3. Total Sample - 600 respondents
Age Group Gender
36-45 46-54
4% 1% 55+
1%
Female
9%
26-35
20%
18-25
Male
74%
91%

4. Internet Usage Characteristics
Less
than How often do people use Average time spent on internet in
Once a
once a internet? week one sitting
week
2%
3%
2-4 times a
week More Less than
7% 1 hour
than 5
5-7 times a hours 13%
week
10% 31%
More than
1-3 hours
7 times a 3-5 hours 39%
week
78%
17%
More than two-thirds of the respondents use the internet more than 7 times per week

5. Popular Services on Internet
Services people use on internet
100% 96% 93%
84%
79%
80%
60% 55%
44% 42%
40% 34% 34%
23% 25% 24% 29%
15% 18% 23% 13%
20% 11%
0%
• Google Search (96%), Facebook (93%), Gmail (84%) and YouTube (79%) are the most
popular services on internet
• Of the top four popular services, three belong to Google

6. User Awareness Internet
Services/Platforms

7. Awareness about Google’s products and services (in %)
Which company offers each of the following services?
100 No Response
Don't Know
80
None of these
60 Microsoft
Yahoo
40
Google
20
0
Google Youtube Google Orkut Blogspot Gmail Picasa Chrome Android
Search Plus
Users are generally aware of Google’s offerings on the internet.
Their awareness quotient is low about Blogspot, Android and Picasa

8. Awareness about Microsoft products (in %)
Which company offers each of the following services?
100
No Response
80
Don't Know
60 None of these
Microsoft
40
Yahoo
20 Google
0
Bing Windows Hotmail Internet Windows
Live Explorer Phone
Around 10-13% of respondents feel these services are owned by Google
More than half answered incorrectly in the case of Bing

9. Awareness about Yahoo products (in %)
Which company offers each of the following services?
100
No Response
80
Don't Know
60 None of these
Microsoft
40 Yahoo
Google
20
0
Yahoo Search Yahoo Mail Flickr
• As evident from the first name, over 80% of the respondents answered correctly in
the case of Yahoo Search &Yahoo Mail
• Majority of the respondents were not aware about the company that owns Flickr;
where only 23% answered it correctly and 19% thought it is being offered by Google

10. Awareness about Other products and services (in %)
Which company offers each of the following services?
100.0
Don't Know
80.0
None of these
60.0 Microsoft
Yahoo
40.0
Google
20.0
0.0
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Wordpress Rediffmail iPhone
Consumer awareness on popular products and services , other than those
offered by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, is found to be comparatively low

11. Personal Data Collection
and Sharing

12. Users’ perceptions about
Personal Information Building & Usage
Which internet sites you think can build
the most detailed personal profile of its Of the 86% (516) respondents who think
users? Facebook builds their detailed profiles, 93%
Twitter (481) still don’t mind using it
20%
LinkedIn 19% Of the total 50% (300) of respondents who
Microsoft 16% believe that Google builds the most detailed
Yahoo 21% profile of its users, almost all of them (99%)
Google 50% continue to use it
Facebook 86%
Would you be comfortable sharing your
Do you feel these companies use profile personal information to any third party,
and information of users for commercial without knowing the end-use of the
purposes? shared information?
No No
Don’t Yes
Response
42% - Know Response Doesn’t 22%
2% Matter 4%
grey area 19%
8%
No Yes
23% 56%
No
66%

13. Users’ preferences
Do you feel that websites should provide Should consumers be able to opt-out of
adequate explanation on how they data collection for a particular internet
intend to use your personal information? service?
No No
Response Response
No 5% 6%
16% No
19%
Yes
Yes 75%
79%
More than three-fourth of the users want to have:
o Access to adequate information on the way websites use their personal data
o Power to opt out of data collection

14. Would you be less likely to use a particular
website/web browser that had been in the press
for violating consumer privacy ?
No Response
5%
No
32%
Yes
63%
Most of the users are less likely to use a particular website/web browser which is
under dispute for violation of privacy

15. Privacy Policies

16. Google’s Privacy Policy
• Google's new unified privacy policy was unveiled on March 1, 2012.
• Google consolidated 60 privacy policies of its individual products into one
including YouTube, Gmail and its social network Google+
Whenever a user logs in, Google will combine all the information it
has gathered about him/her into an omnibus profile: based on friends'
What it means lists, contact details, location, likes and dislikes, Gmail content and
calendar, and automatically share it interchangeably among its
products
Users’ personal information while registration; usage of services
(what, when and how); device information (such as hardware
model, operating system version, unique device identifiers, and
What it collects mobile network information including phone number); log
information (information collected in Google’s server logs while
users use their services – search queries, IP address, cookies);
location information;
• The European Union, the US, Japan and Brazil are scrutinizing and demanding a
withdrawal or an amendment of this policy.
• Indian government yet to come up with an official line on the new policy
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17. Facebook’s Privacy Policy
• Facebook’s ‘Data Use Policy’ makes disclosures about how users can use
Facebook to share information with others and how Facebook collects and
can use their content and information.
Users’ personal information while registration; information
that users share – status updates, photos, comments; users’
interactions with Facebook - when users look at another
person's timeline, send or receive a message, search for a
What it collects friend or a Page, use a Facebook mobile app, or purchase
Facebook Credits or make other purchases through Facebook;
device information (computer, mobile phone or other device,
IP address, internet service, location, browser, pages visited)
• Facebook uses information in connection with the services and features it provides to its
users, partners, advertisers (that purchase ads on the site) and developers that build
games, applications, and websites
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18. Microsoft’s & Yahoo’s Privacy Policy
MICROSOFT YAHOO
• Microsoft has separate privacy statements for • Yahoo’s Privacy Policy details about what information is
its products and services: being collected, used and how and when it is shared.
– Search: Bing • Yahoo collects personal information such as name, email
– Microsoft.com/Microsoft websites: MSN address, birth date, gender, occupation, industry, and
– Other Products:IE8, Microsoft Office, personal interests, home and work address, information on
Skype etc. (each has a separate privacy assets, transactions done with yahoo owned businesses and
policy) its business partners, IP address, cookie information,
• In order to offer the user a personalized software and hardware attributes
experience, information collected through one • The privacy site also carries information about Yahoo’s
Microsoft service may be combined with privacy practices for its wide range of products and services.
information obtained through other Microsoft For instance, in the case of Yahoo search, it discloses that it
services. has integrated its search and sponsored search services with
• Under its overarching privacy framework, the Microsoft, whereby Yahoo shares with Microsoft - user’s
company collects user information such as e- search query, IP address, anonymous information from
mail addresses, home or work address, or his/her web browser and other anonymous data (such as
telephone number, demographic information, demographics including gender and age).
such as ZIP code, age, gender, preferences, • Microsoft uses this information for search product
interests and favourites, IP address, internet improvement, research and analysis, to provide more
access times, referring web site addresses, relevant search results and search advertising, and to help
pages viewed, links clicked. detect and defend against fraudulent activity on sponsored
• There hasn’t been any significant change in search results.
company’s privacy policy in the last 6 months. • There hasn’t been any significant change in company’s
privacy policy in the last 6 months.
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19. Survey Responses
Perceptions on Importance of Privacy Policies
How important is it to you that a Do you read privacy statements
website has a privacy policy? and policies before you register on
Not At All No a website or give any personal
Important Response information?
3% 3%
No
Somewhat Response
Important 5%
13% No
29%
Very
Important Yes
81% 66%
Even though 94% of users feel its important that websites have a privacy policy, only
66% generally read it

20. Knowledge to Protect Privacy on the internet
Do you feel that you have sufficient knowledge
about how to protect your privacy on the
internet?
No
Response
6%
No
34%
Yes
60%

21. Awareness on Changes in Privacy Policies
Are you aware of any changes in privacy policies that took place
in the past six months of the following internet companies
100%
80% 41%
65% 65%
60%
No
40% Yes
57%
20% 35% 35%
0%
Google Yahoo Microsoft

22. Awareness & Understanding of Changes in
Google’s Privacy Policy
Are you aware of any changes in
privacy policies that took place in Of the 57% (341) respondents aware
the past six months on Google?
of the changes
No
Response
2%
81% (277) read it
No
41%
Yes
57%
61% claimed that they
DID NOT understand it
Figures in parenthesis denotes actual number of respondents

23. Search Engine Privacy

24. Most Popular Internet Search Engine
What Internet search engine do you use
the most? (in %) Google Search
100
remains the most
90.8 preferred search
80 engine
60 The other search
engines mentioned
40 by respondents
include Facebook,
20 Flipora among
2.7 5.2
0.8 0.5 others
0
Google Yahoo Ask Bing Others
Search

25. Awareness on Google Search Privacy Policy
No. of respondents
600 545 (91% 332 (83% of 332
of 600) (61% of or 51% of
275 Google search
545)
users (545)
Total Google Search Read Google’s Claimed that
Respondents Users Privacy Policy they
understood
Google’s
Privacy Policy
•Only half of Google search users claim that they have understood its privacy policy
•79% of Google search users believe that Google records their search queries

26. Awareness on Yahoo Search and Bing Privacy Policy
No. of respondents
Yahoo 600
Search 9 8
16
Read Yahoo Claimed that they
Yahoo Search Search’s understood Yahoo
Total Search’s Privacy
Users Privacy Policy
Respondents Policy
600
Bing
3 2 2
Total Bing Users Read Bing’s Claimed that they
Respondents Privacy Policy understood Bing’s
Privacy Policy

27. Sharing of Search History with third parties
Would you want your search history to become public
or available to a third party?
No Response
6%
Yes
Doesn’t Matter
17%
12%
No
65%
Around two-third of respondents are not comfortable sharing their search
history with third parties

28. Awareness on Cookies

29. Awareness on Cookies
Do you know what Are you aware of what
cookies are? information cookies track?
No
Response
Don't know 16%
8%
No
21% Network Traffic 25%
Sensitive Information – bank
account, credit card details 23%
Yes
71%
Personal Information –
name, age, gender, location 34%
Web Browsing Habits 53%

30. Willingness to Block Cookies
Assuming that cookies can track all Would you want to be able to block
of the options above, would you cookies from tracking certain types
want to be able to block cookies? of information?
No No
Response Response
8% 6%
No
20%
No
27%
Yes
65% Yes
74%
Most of the users are skeptical sharing their personal information on the net
and are more likely to block cookies

31. Key Conclusions
Online Privacy is a huge issue among internet users
• More than three-fourth of the users want to have:
o Access to adequate information on the way
websites use their personal data
o Power to opt out of data collection
• Over 40% of users are NOT AWARE that internet
companies use their personal information for
commercial purposes
• Over one-third of users have not read the privacy
policies of the websites that they use and those that
have read , do not always understand them fully

32. AP Shah Committee on Privacy Law
9 National Privacy Principles Recommended
1. Notice 5. Access and
2. Choice and Correction
Consent 6. Disclosure of
3. Collection Information
Limitation 7. Security
4. Purpose 8. Openness
Limitation 9. Accountability
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33. THANK YOU!