"Microsoft‰ÛªsåÊ2nd Annual Report of Internet users around the world finds that Internet users still think overwhelmingly that personal technology is making the world better and more vital," MicrosoftåÊChief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President Mark Penn writes in his blog post. "Compared to 2014, respondents continue to be most enthusiastic about technology‰Ûªs effects on the economy and most concerned about privacy. The role of technology in transportation and literacy moved up, while technology‰Ûªs ability to improve social bonds and enhance personal freedom and expression moved down. Concern about privacy jumped five points," and 64% of Americans think the impact of personal technology on privacy is mostly negative.

"While there is widespread agreement about the positive impacts of technology overall, there is also an emerging schism in the attitudes between developing and developed countries regarding how technology will affect people going forward. Developing countries express deep and genuine enthusiasm about the benefits of technology, whereas developed countries ‰ÛÓ where technology is more ubiquitous ‰ÛÒ express greater concerns about emerging issues."

The Privacy Challenge

"If there is one persistent concern about personal technology that nearly everybody expresses, it is privacy," Penn continues. "In 11 of the 12 countries surveyed, with India the only exception, respondents say that technology‰Ûªs effect on privacy was mostly negative."

"Majorities of respondents in every country but India and Indonesia say current legal protections for users of personal technology are insufficient, and only in those two countries do most respondents feel fully aware of the types of personal information collected about them. Majorities of respondents in both developed and developing countries think that the legal rights of Internet users should be governed by the local laws of the country where the users live; that if a foreign government wants information about a person stored in a datacenter in that person‰Ûªs country, they should have to seek permission from the person, not just the government; that police officers should have to get a search warrant to search for personal information on PCs; and that personal information stored in the cloud should be subject to at least the same privacy protections as personal information stored on paper."

These types of concerns are exactly why 19.5% of Americans are simply avoiding e‑commerce altogether. AudienceSCAN research finds almost 1 in 5 U.S. consumers is STRONGLY reluctant to enter his or her credit card information on the Internet. And 52% of them are men. 32% make between $25,000 and $50,000 annually.

Instead of shopping online, you'll find these consumers playing pool/​billiards (18.5%) and reading devotionals (16.7%). Fishing's on their list of things to do as well ‰ÛÒ for 31.5% of e‑commerce avoiders. 51% of this audience took action after seeing a TV commercial in the past month. And another 27% started online searches after face-​to-​face communication.

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the Audience Intelligence Reports inåÊAdMall.