More Spam, Less Worry

May 28, 2007: Despite receiving more spam than ever this year, a new study has found that users are on the whole less concerned by junk in their mailboxes.

Conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the study canvassed the opinions of 2,200 adults between January and March this year and found that 71 percent used some form of filtration software at home or at work to protect their inboxes.

Despite this level of protection, 37 percent said that the amount of spam they received at home had increased, while 28 percent of business users agreed. For personal email accounts, this marks a jump of 13 percent from the 24 percent recorded three years ago.

At the same time as reporting increasing levels of spam getting through, only 18 percent of users said spam was a big problem – down from 25 percent in 2003.

Researchers noted that this decrease could be attributed to both a reduction in the amount of pornographic spam getting through, and as a result of users becoming increasingly savvy when it comes to dealing with unsolicited email. 44 percent of respondents for example, said they are now more protective of their email address.

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