Spam takes over inboxes
More than half of emails in personal inboxes is spam, and the amount of unsolicited email has grown 76% in the last year.
According to the poll, commissioned by consultancy Unspam, three out of four US consumers would support a national ‘Do-Not-Spam’ registry and 78% said they would sign up should such a registry become available.
Spam is also a costly problem in the workplace – one in three US workers surveyed admitted to being distracted when they receive spam. And almost half said they would be more productive if they received less spam.
Workers said employers had a duty to protect employees from unsolicited pornographic email – and 62% said pornographic spam can contribute to a hostile work environment.
‘While the survey reconfirms that spam is a nuisance for consumers, the emerging problem we’ve found is that unsolicited email creates real liability for businesses,’ said said Unspam chief executive Matthew Prince in a statement.
Three quarters of parents are concerned about children receiving pornographic spam, while 95% said they want the ability to block such unsavoury junk email from children’s in-boxes.
The study also revealed that internet users are increasingly relying on technology-driven filters to control the onslaught of spam, but less than half said that such systems were capable of stemming the tide of spam.