Press Release
2 University Plaza Suite 414
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: 201-996-1154 FAX: 201-996-1883

For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Irene Oujo
(201) 996-1154
ioujo@pandab.org

NEW NATIONAL SURVEY ON CONSUMER PRIVACY ATTITUDES TO BE RELEASED AT
PRIVACY & AMERICAN BUSINESS LANDMARK CONFERENCE
Commissioned by Privacy & American Business and sponsored by Microsoft, the survey examines how consumer privacy attitudes have changed and what actions consumers are taking to assert their privacy choices.

June 10, 2004//Hackensack, NJ: A new consumer privacy survey offers fresh insight into consumer perceptions of how American businesses are collecting and using their personal information for marketing and customer relations. The survey was designed by Dr. Alan F. Westin, President & Publisher, Privacy & American Business (P&AB), commissioned by P&AB, sponsored by Microsoft, and put into the field in early June by Harris Interactive. Attendees of P&ABs Tenth Annual National Conference and Privacy Practitioners Workshop, set for June 22-24 at the Wyndham Washington Hotel, will hear firsthand the results and analysis of this survey research that organizations handling personal data must know about.

Privacy Segmentation of the U.S. Public

Called by the Wall Street Journal "perhaps the keenest observer of public attitudes toward privacy in the 20^th century," Dr. Westin has spent more than four decades studying consumer privacy concerns and their effect on business. In the past ten years, Dr. Westin has established an accepted standard for understanding consumer privacy concerns and attitudes, through a series of "tracking" questions that measure and segment the American public. According to Dr. Westins index, the U.S. public divides into three major groups: Privacy Fundamentalists (very high privacy concern), Privacy Unconcerned (very low or no concern), and Privacy Pragmatists (a middle group with balanced privacy attitudes).

The last survey that examined Privacy Segmentation was conducted in May 2003. Those results found a major shift in public attitudes toward consumer privacy from 2000:

• In 2000, 25% of the public scored as Privacy Fundamentalists (those passionate about what they see as business threats to their consumer privacy and favor active government regulation of business information practices). By May 2003, Privacy Fundamentalists had shot up 11 percentage points, to 36%, representing 75 million adults.
• In 2000, 12% of the public were Privacy Unconcerned (those with low to no concern about consumer privacy issues). In May 2003, this group remained basically the same at 11%, representing 23 million adults.
• In 2000, 63% of the public saw themselves as Privacy Pragmatists (those who ask what benefits they get as consumers sharing their personal information to balance against risks to their privacy interests). In May 2003, Privacy Pragmatists had fallen ten percentage points to 53%, representing 111 million adults.

"Customers now expect that their information will not only be protected but also used to provide them with real value in return. Companies need to exceed those expectations in order to build customer trust and satisfaction to drive further business growth," said Peter Cullen, Chief Privacy Strategist at Microsoft Corporation. "This survey will provide companies with greater insight into how many consumers feel about privacy issues in the context of consumer-business relationships."

New Survey to Be Unveiled at P&ABs Landmark Conference

The latest Privacy Segmentation figures will be delivered and analyzed on June 23 at P&ABs Tenth Annual National Conference in Washington, D.C.

"This new survey, just out of the field, will provide clear benchmarking tools for marketing strategies, new product development, and government relations activities," said Lorrie Sherwood, Executive Director, P&AB.

Along with these results, Dr. Westin will also share an update of another important measure of consumer privacy concern: the Consumer Privacy Activism Index. Last conducted in 1999 in an IBM-sponsored survey comparing U.S., British and German privacy attitudes, this index will examine how often American consumers have:

• Asked a company to remove their name and address from their marketing lists
• Asked a company not to sell or give their name and address to another company
• Asked a company to see what personal information, besides billing information, they had about them
• Refused to give information to a business or company because they thought it was not really needed or too personal
• Decided not to use or purchase something from a company because they werent sure how they would use their personal information.

And new this year:

• Filed a complaint with a government agency about what they felt was a misuse of their personal data by a company
• Decided not to register at a website to get information or to shop there because they found their privacy policy too complicated or unclear.

To Learn First About this Survey, Register Today for P&ABs Tenth Annual National Conference and Privacy Practitioners Workshop

P&ABs Tenth Annual National Conference, "Managing the Privacy Revolution 2004: New Challenges, New Strategies, New Dangers" and Privacy Practitioners Workshop, are set for June 22-24, 2004 at the Wyndham Washington Hotel in D.C. Last years Conference received kudos for its timeliness and high calibre "in-the-know" speakers. This years Conference promises to be even better.

Leading Players in Privacy Set to Speak

Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT); Gary Betty, CEO, Earthlink; Nuala OConnor Kelly, CPO, Department of Homeland Security; Jennifer Stoddart, Canadas Privacy Commissioner; Steven Brill, CEO, Verified Identity Pass; Donal Daly, Chairman, The Customer Respect Group; Steve Durkee, V.P., Privacy Implementation, Citigroup; Robert Dye, Head of Research, The Research Board; Jerry Berman, President, Center for Democracy & Technology; Brian Tretick, Principal, Ernst & Young; Becky Burr, Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP; Ron Plesser, Partner, Piper Rudnick LLP; Chris Sullivan, Director of Professional Services, Courion; Virginia Bartlett, CPO, IMS Health; and many more are slated to speak.

And, as always, well have our own Dr. Alan Westin, President & Publisher, P&AB; Robert Belair, V.P., P&AB; Partner, Oldaker, Biden & Belair; and Oscar Marquis, Partner, Oldaker, Biden & Belair.

"Events on the privacy front have been electric since mid-2003. How these have affected both the basic Privacy Segmentation and the Privacy Activism Index promise to be very important for business to learn and respond to," said Dr. Westin.

Top Notch Program

Attendees at past conferences know this is not a canned program. Conference organizers examine not just the current privacy issues facing your organizations CIO, Privacy Officer, and legal, marketing, IT and other departments, but the challenges they will need to overcome tomorrow. P&ABs leaders always provide an agenda, speakers and materials that are ahead of the curve.

Workshop attendees should look forward to sessions on involving the CIO in privacy management; making privacy policies shorter and better; privacy ratings and independent verification; permission marketing in the pharmaceutical industry; understanding business obligations under the FACT Act; and case studies where organizations are effectively applying the privacy rules.

Aside from releasing the survey results, expert speakers on Day One will take a close look at privacy activity in the states and at the federal level this past year, and what is expected to come in 2004-2005; homeland security and the role of business; identity management and verification. Day Two will offer attendees opportunities to hear about the new environment for permission marketing; privacy in the mobile world; EU-U.S. negotiations on transborder issues; and the latest debate on outsourcing.

Cant Miss Conference

This event offers attendees from all walks of business life and from across all industries an opportunity to network and learn what the new privacy environment will bring. Attendees will also go back to their posts armed with unique tools and resources, including: P&ABs Consumer Privacy Survey, sponsored by Microsoft; HR Privacy Resource Guide, sponsored by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP; Consumer Privacy Litigation Annual Round Up; CPO Job Description and Evaluation Criteria: What Management Should Know; Annual Consumer Privacy Surveys Report; Round Up of Media Coverage on Privacy; and the Guide to P&ABs Privacy Policy Database.

Conference Details Available Online

Registration and other information about P&ABs Tenth Annual National Conference and Privacy Practitioners Workshop, "Managing the Privacy Revolution 2004: New Challenges, New Strategies, New Dangers" is available at pandab.org or contact Olga Garey at info@pandab.org or (201) 996-1154 for more details.

Members of the press are welcome to June 23-24 only, but must register to attend. A press registration form is available at pandab.org. The Privacy Practitioners Workshop on June 22 is closed to the press. Contact Irene Oujo at ioujo@pandab.org or (201) 996-1154 for more information.

About Privacy & American Business

Privacy & American Business (pandab.org, www.PrivacyExchange.org, & www.pjobs.org), is an activity of the Center for Social & Legal Research, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy think tank exploring U.S. and global issues of consumer and employee privacy and data protection since its launch in 1993.

Always on the cutting edge, P&AB was the first to chart and analyze for business the rise of privacy from a second-tier concern to a front-burner issue and to provide opportunities in programs and meetings to assist businesses in understanding the privacy environment as it is evolving. P&AB, a pioneer in recognizing the rise of the Corporate Privacy Officer (CPO), was the first to open its CPO Program in 1999.

The Center and all its activities are led by Dr. Alan Westin, Professor of Public Law & Government Emeritus, Columbia University, and President and Publisher of P&AB; Robert Belair, Partner at Oldaker, Biden & Belair and P&ABs Vice President; and Lorrie Sherwood, P&ABs Executive Director.

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