The risks of security and privacy breaches are deterring Americans from using certain internet services, a new survey has found.

According to the survey of 41,000 people undertaken by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), 45 percent of online households refrain from using at least one activity deemed as presenting a security or privacy risk.

Twenty-nine percent of respondent households said they had avoided conducting financial transactions online; 26 percent had avoided buying goods or services; 26 percent avoided posting to social networks and 19 percent said they had stopped themselves from expressing an opinion that may be deemed controversial due to privacy concerns.

Identity theft led the survey on threats with 63 percent saying they were concerned about it, followed by 45 percent saying they were concerned with credit card and banking fraud, 23 percent nominated online data collection, 22 percent cited the risk of losing control over their personal data, 18 percent feared data collection by the Government, while 13 percent said they were concerned with personal threats to their safety.

The concerns of those surveyed are not without merit either, with 19 percent surveyed saying they were affected by an online security breach in the last year, equating to some 19 million American households.

“NTIA’s initial analysis only scratches the surface of this important area, but it is clear that policymakers need to develop a better understanding of mistrust in the privacy and security of the Internet and the resulting chilling effects,” the agency wrote in a statement. “In addition to being a problem of great concern to many Americans, privacy and security issues may reduce economic activity and hamper the free exchange of ideas online.”

Loss of trust

While households who had experienced a security breach were more likely to refrain from using online services, the overall results show that online businesses and services are suffering a loss of trust by nearly half of all American households.

While the figures themselves may not represent that much of a restraint of use, after all, it’s becoming more and more difficult to undertake many services without the use of the internet, they should serve as a wake-up call to all online providers.

After a year which saw a record number of security breaches, more must be done to protect data security and privacy online to restore confidence, because if an increasing number of people stop using online services, that will eventually result not only slowing growth, and negative growth in the not too distant future.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/ CC by 3.0