Oxford Internet Institute UK Survey

The Oxford Internet Institute survey of UK Internet usage landed on my desk (yes! hard copy! how quaint!) this morning. It is a thing of wonder. Every totally obvious statement you ever wanted to include in an article but couldn't be bothered to find statistical backing for is included. Yes, 74% of UK citizens have now bought something on line. Yes, 61% of UK people now have Internet access at home. Yes, broadband uptake is higher in wealthy homes than poorer ones (no, you don't say.) People think the Internet is bad for privacy? Tick! ( 49% think the use of computers in the UK is a threat to personal privacy. 45% are concerned about access to their personal data.) Worried about spam? Tick! (60%. Though only 35% have done anything about it.) Concerned about viruses? Tick! (82%! And 65% have done something about it! (or so they say :-)

Thre are some pleasant (and less pleasant) surprises though. 72% of those asked said the Internet had made their life better. Only 23% agreed strongly that they were concerned about immoral content on the Internet, while 15% strongly disagreed (given the social difficulty of disagreeing with such a question for many parents, the "strongly"s striks me as the only section of the respondents who matter). An amazing 18% claim they post pictures on the Web and 14% keep a website , though only 5% blog (but still!). But only 17% of Britons object to ID cards and around 5% of users have given up on the Internet entirely between 2003 and 2005 for whatever reason (mainly lack of interst - only 11% cited bad experiences and 17% privacy worries.

And only 2% agree strongly that email takes up too much of their time while 65% disagree or strongly disagree. They sure as hell didn't interview me for this survey:-)