Online shoppers are asking for trouble

A survey published today about consumer attitudes to data security makes for bleak reading.

Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of UK consumers are quite happy to have personal and financial information stored on web sites they visit regularly, according to the report published by communications consultancy The Aziz Corporation.

The associated risks are apparently not of sufficient concern to outweigh the convenience factor of having sensitive details held by online retailers, the survey finds.

Two-thirds of respondents (64 per cent) make use of the option of having their credit card and other personal details stored to save time in future.

With such a high proportion of people willing to have such important data held about them, it is no wonder that phishing and online fraud is rife.

While most of the sites holding this data are considered reputable, it is inevitable that the more places personal data is stored, the more at risk it is of being stolen.

We would not leave a note on our front doors pointing to where the spare key is kept and giving the burglar alarm code, so why are we so cavalier about protecting online data?

The same survey says 73 per cent of people admit to not fully understanding the risk of submitting financial details to web sites, and so the blame cannot fully lie with the consumer for its lax attitude.

Organisations working to reduce rocketing e-crime levels must step up their education efforts because the message obviously is not getting through.

If online shoppers carry on with this casual attitude to securing personal information, they are asking for trouble.

It is high time we take our online security as seriously as we do our physical security.