Internet users more wary about revealing personal details

Increasingly cyber-savvy internet users have become more wary about revealing their personal information on social networking websites, a report said today.

Ofcom's Media Literacy report revealed 80 per cent of the 1,824 people it polled now restrict their online profiles, on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, to their friends and family, compared with 48 per cent in 2007.

The trend comes at a time when social networking sites are facing increasing scrutiny over apparent security breaches, exposing their users' personal information to leaks.

This month, Facebook was forced to take its chat system offline after a technology blogger discovered a way to spy on his friends' personal information. Facebook's engineers "promptly" fixed the bug.

The Ofcom survey also found the number of people willing to provide their e-mail addresses online has also declined in the last three years, to 44 per cent from 49 per cent.

However, despite internet users becoming increasingly cautious about online threats, such as phishing scams or malicious adware, a quarter of those polled were still unsure about how to set up browsing filters which could help protect their PCs. Even fewer felt comfortable installing security software.

But the picture across Britain was inconsistent with Scottish internet users the most relaxed about online security.

Half of those polled in Scotland said they were comfortable entering their home addresses online and 44 per cent were happy to enter their credit card details.