  People are concerned about privacy, particularly on the Internet. While many
studies have provided evidence of this concern, few have explored the nature of
the concern in detail, especially for the online environment. With this study,
we have tried to better understand the nature of online privacy concerns; we
look beyond the fact that people are concerned and attempt to understand how
they are concerned. We hope our results will help inform both policy decisions
as well as the development of technology tools that can assist Internet users
in protecting their privacy.
  We present results here from the analysis of 381 questionnaires completed
between November 6 and November 13, 1998 by American Internet users. The sample
was drawn from the FamilyPC magazine/Digital Research, Inc. Family Panel. While
this is not a statistically representative sample of US Internet users, our
respondents are heavy Internet users, and quite possibly lead innovators. As
such, we believe that this sample is important for understanding the future
Internet user population.
