E-mail users are getting more spam, but they mind it less, according to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Though the Can Spam Act became law in December 2003, 28 percent of users say they are getting more unwanted e-mail in their personal accounts. Twenty-two percent say they are getting less.
Fifty-three percent of e-mail users say spam makes them less trusting of e-mail, compared to 62 percent in a Pew survey a year ago.
The percentage who said spam makes them use e-mail less was down 7 percent to 22 percent.
Two-thirds say spam makes using e-mail unpleasant or annoying, but that number was 77 percent a year ago.
The survey found that people were getting less porn spam, a uniquely troubling form of spam for most users and particularly for women. Although 63 percent of e-mail users now say they have received porn spam, that's down 8 percentage points from a year ago. Twenty-nine percent say they are now getting less porn spam.
Thirty-five percent said they have received "phishing" spam, which tries to trick people into providing sensitive personal information by pretending to be from a bank or other service. Two percent said they have fallen for the trick. |
