Survey: Government health Web site visitors less likely to share personal info
U.S. and Canadian consumers who visit government healthcare Web sites are more likely to read privacy and security statements and are less likely to share personal information, a new study finds.

Half of the 3,075 North American consumers who visit government healthcare Web sites said they trusted online businesses to protect their personal data, according to a survey from Forrester Research. However, they were more likely (51 percent compared with 43 percent overall) to read privacy and security statements.

Less than 10 percent, or 238 respondents who visited government health Web sites, said it was OK for businesses to share information about their online purchases. However, 15 percent said it was OK for sites to set cookies to improve the user’s site experience, compared with 10 percent who said the same in the overall survey base of a little more than 10,000 respondents. Sixty-six percent of those who visit North American government health Web sites said they regularly use anti-spyware tools to delete cookies.

Forrester conducted the online survey of U.S. and Canadian respondents in October 2005.

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