Survey raises consumer worries about e-commerce security

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 - 11:03 by Mike Price

A study has found that many consumers in the UK and throughout Europe are nervous about the risks of fraud and identity theft which might potentially be posed by using the internet to buy products and services.

The survey, commissioned by Eurobarometer, discovered that around 55 per cent of people are not sure about just how e-commerce firms manage and use private information relating to customers.

Safe shopping online is carried out by about 66 per cent of EU citizens on a regular basis, according to the study, so there is a significant pool of people who do not have total trust in the retailers they deal with when browsing the web.

E-commerce firms generally require that customers provided them with personal details so that payment can be taken and deliveries made correctly, with the study finding that 90 per cent of online retailers keep information relating to user addresses and backgrounds.

The real issue at play here is the question of information control, because many consumers feel impotent to manage the way in which their private data is used as soon as they pass it on to a retailer via safe shopping online.

A spate of hacks has damaged the reputations of Sony and many other major companies, with the latest attack allegedly resulting in the theft of census data from the government. It is easy to see why consumers may have fears about data security when such high profile targets are falling left, right and centre.

There are of course various methods available to those who want to protect their identities or limit the impact of any online fraud which may befall them. Using fixed sum payment cards which are not linked directly to your main bank account is one option, while sticking to trusted e-commerce firms is another, simpler solution.