64% of US web users ignore privacy policies

The survey was sponsored by the Privacy Leadership Initiative (PLI), a coalition of US businesses and affiliated organisations aimed at empowering consumers to control how their personal information is used and shared off-line and on-line.

Among other findings:

• 77% of respondents favoured a short, concise privacy policy;
• 70% of respondents agreed that companies "should use the same summary or checklist for their privacy policies";
• More than half of respondents identified six separate categories of information that they said were "very important" or "important" elements to be considered for a privacy policy;
• Only 12 percent reported reviewing financial notices carefully; and
• The top reasons cited for not reading privacy policies more carefully were a lack of time/interest and a high level of difficulty understanding the notices.