WASHINGTON -- Americans may not be that nervous about privacy after all.
On Tuesday, pollsters showed up before a House subcommittee to say that even after years of warnings from the press and activist groups, the public isn't terribly concerned about shopping, communicating, or conducting business online.
Frank Newport, Gallup Poll's editor-in-chief, said he found only about 16 percent of Internet users pay attention to issues relating to privacy, while "about half said that they weren't following the issue closely at all."
When Internet users do worry about privacy, according to Newport, they worry about the government -- especially the government's ability to tap into their e-mail through methods like the FBI's Carnivore system.
"For whatever reason, some 63 percent of Internet users are very concerned about this issue," Newport said.
Among other top concerns the pollsters cited: Being tracked on the Web, having personal data transmitted to third parties, and -- no surprise -- having credit card information stolen.
Internet users also have different views about different kinds of data, says Sandra Bauman, vice president of Wirthlin Worldwide.
"The majority of people say they are never comfortable sharing their Social Security number, financial information, medical information or information about their children," Bauman said.
But she said that Americans usually don't mind revealing their gender, age, education, occupation, hobbies and interests.
While there was general agreement among those testifying that privacy is not a burning topic of interest for Internet users, some witnesses said it might be a "landmine issue."
"We use the word 'landmine' because we believe privacy can very quickly become a major issue," said Humphrey Taylor of The Harris Poll. He said it could be based "either on bad personal experience or on negative media coverage."
"All it would take," Taylor joked during questioning from the subcommittee, "would be one congressman having records of his accessing porn becoming public."
Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Florida), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, raised doubts about the need for Internet privacy legislation.
"The public is not really educated about this," Stearns said. "How much the government should protect these unconcerned people is a very difficult question."
Stearns said he had hoped to draft legislation by sometime in June and get a response from the industry, but indicated he wasn't sure what course Congress should take.
"I've left somewhat ambivalent," Stearns said. "You really can't necessarily draft legislation based on a survey, but there is the possibility of a landmine."
