THE HARRIS POLL #1, January 5, 2000

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by Humphrey Taylor

George Orwell got it wrong. In his famous novel 1984, Big Brother was always watching you and knew what you were doing. As we enter the new millennium, there is no one Big Brother but many thousand of companies which want to know more about you. However, what concerns many people is not so much what they know but what they don’t know, and the possible misuse of inaccurate or incomplete information.

A new Harris Poll measures the level of public concern that either accurate or inaccurate personal information may be used to deny people credit or insurance, to prevent them getting a job, to defraud or embarrass them.

In general the public is substantially more concerned about the uses of inaccurate or incomplete information than about the use of accurate information. The largest numbers are for people who are very concerned that inaccurate information may be used to deny them credit (47%) or insurance (44%), or to defraud them (42%). Smaller, but still substantial, numbers are also very concerned that inaccurate or incomplete information may be used to prevent them getting a job (36%) or to embarrass them (28%). The number who are at least somewhat concerned are much higher.

While the numbers are lower, sizable minorities are also very concerned that accurate information might be used to defraud them (30%), to prevent them getting insurance (29%) or credit (27%) or a job (27%). And one in five people (20%) are very concerned that accurate information could be used to embarrass them.

These are the results of a Harris Poll, which was designed, with the help of Dr. Alan Westin, the president of Privacy and American Business and a greatly respected authority on issues of consumer privacy. The poll was conducted by telephone among a nationwide cross section of 1,009 adults surveyed between December 2 and 7, 1999.

The Harris Poll found that there were substantial differences between the concerns of different segments of the population. In particular members of minority populations are much more concerned than whites that both accurate and inaccurate information about them might be used against them. For example, fully 77% of African-Americans are very concerned that inaccurate information might be used to deny them credit compared to only 41% of whites.

Whites tend to be more concerned about the use of inaccurate information. For example, 41% of whites are very concerned that inaccurate information might be used to prevent them from getting credit, compared to only 21% who worry about this use of accurate information. For many African-Americans and Hispanics the belief that accurate information (perhaps that they are black or Hispanic) could be used against them is almost as high as their concerns about the use of incorrect information.

In reviewing the results, Dr. Alan Westin notes that "American consumers are right in worrying whether inaccurate or even accurate information about them is being used in ways that could unfairly limit their benefits and opportunities. The answer is obviously for companies to inform consumers what is being collected and to let concerned consumers see their records -- to assure accuracy and also to challenge any improper discrimination."

Humphrey Taylor is the Chairman of the Harris Poll.

This Harris Poll was conducted by telephone within the United States between December 2 - December 7, 1999, among a nationwide cross section of 1009 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education, number of adults and number of voice/telephone lines in the household were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

In theory, with a sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population had been polled with complete accuracy. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response), question wording and question order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is difficult or impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

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Q605, 610, 611