Survey Shows Privacy Concerns a Major Roadblock for the Adoption of Location-based Services and Presence Technology


ROCHESTER, N.Y., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- A December 2006 survey by Harris Interactive(R) shows that most U.S. mobile phone users worry about privacy when it comes to next-generation telecommunications technologies. Known collectively as location-based services (LBS) and presence technology, these services, some of which are already on the market, can tell other contacts where a person is physically located, what communication devices they are using, and how to reach them at any given moment.
About one in four mobile phone owners would like to be able to find out the availability of their contacts (available, busy on a call, unavailable), with 27 percent of them rating this a very appealing option. Eighteen percent would be very interested in the ability to determine the current location of persons on their contact list and 14 percent would like to be able to find out where their contacts had been recently. When asked how they feel about other people having this information about them, the majority of those surveyed say such services are an invasion of privacy (see Table 6).
These are just some of the results of a recent survey of 1,028 U.S. adults conducted online by Harris Interactive(R) between November 30 and December 11, 2006.
Just over half (58%) would want their spouse or significant other to know where they are and whether they are available, while fewer would want children (46%) or other family members (43%) to have this information, and only a handful would want their co-workers (6%) or employers (5%) to have it (see Table 4).
Currently, awareness and immediate purchase intent for LBS and presence services are low. In all, only 4 percent would switch wireless carriers tomorrow to have these features. But three in ten consumers say they would be interested in more information.
"We expect these technologies eventually to catch on," said Joe Porus, VP and Chief Architect with Harris Interactive's Technology and Telecom Practice. "But providers must give users control over location-based features to allay privacy concerns." Milt Ellis, VP and Sr. Consultant with the practice, added, "For marketers of these services, the key initially is to target groups of users -- such as teenagers, busy executives, delivery and emergency service personnel -- who value the benefits of being connected more than they worry about privacy."
TABLE 1
AWARENESS OF PRESENCE SERVICES "There are some new technologies coming to your cell phone called presence or
availability information services. These services allow you to determine the
availability and location of your contacts. Are you aware of any presence services existing in the marketplace now?" Base: Mobile Phone Owners Total % Yes 22 No 64 Not Sure 14 TABLE 2 AWARENESS OF PRESENCE PROVIDERS"You indicated you are aware of existing presence services. Which service provider(s) do you believe offers these services?" Base: Aware of presence services Total % Cingular Wireless 41 Verizon Wireless 35 T-mobile 26 Nextel 25 Sprint PCS 22 Not Sure 21 AT&T Wireless 16 Alltel 12 Other 6 Note: Multiple-response question TABLE 3 APPEAL OF PRESENCE SERVICES"[On a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 means "Not at all appealing" and 7 means"Extremely appealing]Please rate how appealing each of the presence services below are to you." Base: Mobile Phone Owners Somewhat Unappealing Appealing Appealing Mean Rating (rated (rated 3 (rated (1 to 7 1 or 2) or 4 or 5) 6 or 7) scale) % % % The ability to look at your contact list and determine if they were available to talk, busy on a call or unavailable. 38 35 27 3.7 The ability to determine the location of persons on your contact list (snapshot of where they are now). 53 29 18 3.0 The ability to determine what locations individuals on your contact list were over the last few hours (map of their whereabouts) 61 25 14 2.6 The ability for friends and family to see this information about you. 61 29 10 2.5 The ability for your employer to see this information about you. 83 13 4 1.7 TABLE 4
DESIRED CONTACTS FOR PRESENCE SERVICES "Which individuals on your contact list would you want to have these presence
capabilities?" Base: Mobile Phone Owners Total % Spouse or significant other 58 Children 46 Other family members 43 Friends 31 Other 13 Coworkers 6 Employer 5 Note: Multiple-response question TABLE 5 IMMEDIATE PURCHASE INTENTS FOR PRESENCE SERVICES
"If a wireless service provider came out with these services tomorrow, what
would be your reaction?" Base: Mobile Phone Owners Total % Nothing ...I'm not that interested 49 I would wait until my current wireless contract expired before looking into switching to this new provider 17 I'm interested and would consider switching wireless carriers now 4 I'm not sure/I would need more information 30 TABLE 6 RELATIVE INTEREST IN PRESENCE SERVICES"There are plenty of new features and services coming to your cell phone.
Based on everything you might have heard, where do "Presence" features rate
compared to other ideas?" Base: Mobile Phone Owners Total % Top of my list -- I'm very interested 5 Middle of the pack -- I'm lukewarm 23 Bottom of the list - There are other things much more interesting 56 Not sure 17 Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding. TABLE 7 PRIVACY CONCERNS REGARDING PRESENCE SERVICES
"Do you believe any of these types of services are an invasion of privacy?"
Base: Mobile Phone Owners Yes % The ability to look at your contact list and determine if they were available to talk, busy on a call or unavailable. 34 The ability for friends and family to see this information about you. 59 The ability to determine the location of persons on your contact list (snapshot of where they are now). 70 The ability to determine what locations individuals on your contact list were over the last few hours (map of their whereabouts) 73 The ability for your employer to see this information about you. 83 None of these 10 Note: Multiple-response question Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between November 30 and December 11, 2006 among 1,028 adults (age 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income 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.
All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.
With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.
With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 1,028 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/-3 percentage points. The subsample of mobile phone owners (n=820) has a sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. Sampling error for smaller subsamples 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.
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
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