Posted on 10/30/2005 6:17:15 AM PST by billorites
Data gathered by the US Census Bureau in 2003 shows that 55% of Americans are connected from home, while wealthier, more educated families are most likely of all to use the internet.
But as net use has risen, so too have fears about identity theft and other online dangers.
Almost 90% of Americans had changed their behaviour online due to net crime concerns, reported a consumer watchdog.
Net gains
The figures from October 2003 but are the most recent released by the Census Bureau on computer and internet use in the US.
They show that home net use was highest in the states of Alaska, New Hampshire and Colorado. Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana were bottom of the table.
The figures also revealed that computer ownership and net use seem to go hand-in-hand. The percentage of computer owning homes, 62%, was only slightly ahead of home net use.
Education, income and school age children were all big factors in determining whether the internet was in use in a home. In homes where incomes topped $100,000 (£56,000) computer ownership was found to be 95% and 92% were online.
Americans who did not graduate from high school were the least likely group to use the net.
Of those not using the net, 39% said they did not need it and 23% said it was too expensive.
Online habits
Though more Americans are online, research by the Consumer Reports WebWatch coalition has found that more people are reacting to the potential dangers on the net.
Of those questioned, 86% said they had made at least one change in their online behaviour as a result of greater knowledge about identity theft, credit card fraud and hack attacks that stole large amounts of confidential personal data.
As well as stopping buying online, the survey found that 30% of those questioned had cut back on net use and 29% said they were reducing their online spending.
More than half of respondents, 54%, were also more likely to read a site's privacy notices or consumer policies before buying.
In a bid to help consumers stay safe online, the Anti-Spyware Coalition has released guidelines that help people judge if software is good or bad.
The rating system produced by the group of anti-spyware firms and consumer organisations assigns risk levels to the different things that spyware and adware programs do.
Bad programs install themselves without a user's permission or bundle in other unwanted programs when they are installed.
There's a hookworm joke in there somewhere.
My daughter says by the time she's done paying for the snack to keep the kids happy at the mall or the McDonald's bribe held out for the trip home, the extra she has to pay for shipping has already paid for itself.
Who knew?
I am fairly confident that i could have reached the same conclusions without conducting the study...highly educated, successful internet savvy individuals have a high rate of computer ownership and internet access while high school drop outs have a lower rate of ownership and access....stunning.
Here there be monsters!
LOL, no kidding! I wonder how much research was needed to uncover that little jem.
Having the UN take over the net is the worst possible development for freedom.
Who knew?
That was a real "No s#it, Sherlock" kind of moment, wasn't it?
Lame scare tactic alert.
Our national livestock organization was astonished to find just how much of their membership was on email and/or has a website.
Even the remote areas or those who do not have a computer on the farm have a site with address and phone number. They either have a neighbor maintain it or go to the =gasp= library.
The internet has been a huge boon to agribusiness and the small town stores.
We do tons of business over the internet. If someone did steal our identities it would be very easy to track who,where,how they got the info.
The delivery companies including the post office love the shipping profits and have had to increase routes and services. Don't believe the PO officials one bit when they say they lose money because of email
My daughter too does all her shopping online. No shipping, no taxes, and she gets to fly home for the holidays knowing all the gifts are already here waiting for her to wrap.
I am very pleased with the US response of "not going to happen" when the UN recently demanded the USA turn over the internet.
I am not against buying kids snacks or going to Mcdonald's. However, the way this is phrased makes me wonder who is in charge, your daughter, or the kids?
I brought up my kids not to beg or whine, and I let them know that if they did, they were less likely to get what they wanted. Respectful asking was fine.
I don't know your daughter, or the whole story, but the phrasing made me wonder.
Man, that lecture was a threadkiller.
What a loving thing to do. Thank you.
Well aren't you special. Nice to know you had the perfect children.
Christmas is much easier when the presents are purchased through and wrapped by Amazon.
Regards, Ivan
Sorry if I offended you.
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