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| Free Hospitality Publications |
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Restaurant Industry News
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Tuesday October 24th, 2006 |
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Survey Suggests Majority of Consumers Are Not Concerned about Privacy at Public Wi-Fi Hotspots
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Only 26% Expressed Concerns about Security, Research Also Indicates That 51% of U.S. Adults Have Connected to the Internet Wirelessly of Which 63% Have Done So in a Public Hot Spot |
AnchorFree, the world's largest free Wi-Fi network and community, consisting of more than 10,000 wireless hotspots in over 2,400 cities across the U.S. and worldwide, announced first-of-its kind survey results about wireless Internet access usage and security.
According to the study commissioned by AnchorFree and conducted by Harris Interactive(R), half (51%) of U.S. adults have connected to the Internet wirelessly and sixty-three percent (63%) of these adults have connected via a free public Hot Spot; and of the 63 percent, nearly half (46%) believe the connection is only somewhat secure. Yet, despite this perceived lack of security, few free public hotspot users expressed concern about their online privacy when using such connections: Only 26% of those respondents were either concerned or very concerned. Half (52%) are only somewhat concerned, and one in five (22%) are not at all concerned.
"What this research revealed is that consumers are only vaguely aware of the mammoth security issues surrounding public Wi-Fi hotspots," said David Gorodyansky, president & co-founder of AnchorFree. "Consumers are 'sitting ducks' while using public hotspots, as hackers can easily 'hijack' the network and spy on unsuspecting Web surfers, stealing their identity information."
The online survey was conducted as part of an educational campaign sponsored by AnchorFree, a company that is dedicated to providing free wireless access to PC and Mac users. AnchorFree is committed to spreading the word that free Wi-Fi is accessible around the world, but cautions consumers to protect themselves when they log-on to the Internet using public locations.
AnchorFree offers a free security Hot Spot Shield download that creates a secure Internet session via a Virtual Private Network (VPN). "Some of the local municipalities launching free regional Wi-Fi access are offering one-off security solutions to consumers, but they only work with PCs, and are specific to an individual area. AnchorFree's Hotspot Shield works to protect consumers at any public hotspot - for both Mac and PC users alike," Gorodyansky added.
Wireless Internet users can download AnchorFree's free Hotspot Shield software for Macs and PCs at http://www.anchorfree.com
About the Survey
This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of AnchorFree between August 8 and August 10, 2006, among 2,337 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older. Figures for region, age within gender, education, household income and race/ethnicity were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 2,337 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The sampling error for the sub-samples of U.S. adults who have connected to the Internet wirelessly in public (n= 608) and U.S. adults who have connected to the Internet wirelessly at a free public hotspot (n= 379) is higher and varies. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
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