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This From: The Toronto Sun, October 2, 1998
http://www.thestar.com

1 in 3 plan to buy online, poll reveals
But Canadians still worry about privacy, security
http://www.thestar.com/back_issues/ED19981002/news/981002NEW06_NA-POLL2.htm
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By
Valerie Lawton
Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA - More than one in three Canadians expect to buy something over the
Internet within the next couple of years, a poll suggests.

``That's a much higher figure than anything we've seen,'' said Frank
Graves, president of Ekos Research Associates.

``We're talking about a pretty radical transformation of the marketplace,
the world of commerce, in a very short period of time.''

The results of the Ekos survey are to be released today.

Canadians also told the pollster they have a number of worries about buying
online.

About three-quarters of those asked said they would not be willing to give
their credit card number over the Internet even if they were buying
something from a well-known business.

And Graves said the poll found people would be more willing to shop on the
Internet if privacy and consumer protection measures were introduced.

It's an important message for business and government, said Andrew Reddick
of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa.

``They have to put consumers first if they want this to work,'' said
Reddick, whose centre also worked on the E-commerce study.

He's skeptical of the finding that one in three people plan to buy over the
Internet soon.

``It may be wishful thinking. It may be showing a high level of interest,''
he said.

``A lot of people aren't on the Internet - 75 per cent roughly still aren't
connected from the home.''

Some 7 per cent of Canadians said they had shopped on the Internet at some
point during the three months before the poll was taken.

Ekos has conducted three surveys on E-commerce over the last year or so.
The most recent, a telephone survey in June, involved 2,200 interviews - a
sampling that's said to be accurate within 2.1 percentage points, 19 times
out of 20.

In Ottawa yesterday, the federal government tabled legislation that
includes measures to protect personal information.

``For electronic commerce to flourish, we need confidence in how our
personal information is gathered, stored and used and clear rules for
industry,'' said Industry Minister John Manley.

The minister also announced yesterday that the government will take a
hands-off approach to cryptography, a method which encodes data so that
only individuals with the proper digital ``key'' are able to decipher it.

Copyright � 1996-1998, The Toronto Star.

--------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------
In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research
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http://www.cyberhaven.com/ is home to a variety of privacy and asset
protection sites.


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