Overview
More than a year after the CAN-SPAM Act became law, email users say they are receiving slightly more spam in their inboxes than before, but they are minding it less.
A survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project conducted between January 13 and February 9, 2005, shows the following:
28% of users with a personal email account say they are getting more spam than a year ago, while 22% say they are getting less.
21% of users with a work email account say they are getting more spam than a year ago, while 16% say they are getting less.
53% of email users say spam has made them less trusting of email, compared to 62% a year ago.
22% of email users say that spam has reduced their overall use of email, compared to 29% a year ago.
67% of email users say spam has made being online unpleasant or annoying, compared to 77% a year ago.
Overall, more than half of all internet users (52%) complain that spam is a big problem.
Among other things, the survey found that people were getting less porn spam, a uniquely troubling form of spam for most users and particularly for women. While 63% of email users now say they have received porn spam, down 8 percentage points from a year ago, 29% of those email users say they are now getting less porn spam, compared to 16% who said they are getting more.
And in a first-time measure of “phishing,” or unsolicited email requesting personal financial information, 35% of users say they have received such email, and 2% have responded by providing the information.