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An overwhelming majority of Americans believe the Internet poses a growing threat to their privacy, according to a new Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll released this week. Sixty-nine percent of those polled said they're "very concerned" about their ability to keep personal information, such as medical and financial records, confidential. And 90% said it's getting harder to keep such information confidential.
The survey paints a portrait of a nation that has embraced the Internet but fears that a loss of privacy is an inevitable side effect. While nearly two-thirds of Americans said they have access to the World Wide
Web at work, home, or school -— up from 51% just two years ago -- only 7% believe their most-personal information is secure from the prying eyes of hackers or bosses.
NO CONSENSUS.
Nine out of 10 Americans suspect their Social Security number is readily available to others, without their permission, while 85% believe unauthorized individuals can find their credit-card numbers on the Web. Almost as many (83%) said they're concerned that their financial records can be found on the Internet, and a slightly smaller majority (72%)
think medical records can't be protected. Only 8% of Americans believe their e-mail is "secure and private" from snooping outsiders.
There's no consensus on what to do about the problem. Voters are almost evenly divided when asked which political party would do a better job of protecting their privacy: 29% pick Republicans, 22% pick Democrats. The rest either see no difference or offered no opinion.
The Fox poll consisted of interviews with 900 registered voters conducted June 7-8. It has a 3% margin of error. (For more on this topic, read Marcia Stepanek's twice-monthly column, Privacy Matters.)
By Richard S. Dunham in Washington
EDITED BY BETH BELTON
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