Perspective: Do As You Say, Not As You Do

Reprinted with permission from CNET News.com

On the surface, it sounds encouraging: a great majority of Internet users in the United States report that they know how and take active steps to protect their privacy when they are online.

Yet, a bit of drilling down proves that most of them still are not safeguarding their personal information.

This news comes to us via a recent survey by TRUSTe, an organization that helps consumers and businesses identify trustworthy online entities through its Web Privacy and Email Privacy Seals, and TNS, a market information group that claims to be the world's largest provider of custom research and analysis.

Specifically, the survey documents that 86 percent of American Internet users say they are knowledgeable about protecting their private information, while 57 percent say they consistently take necessary steps to do so.