NIC.br releases second part of TIC Households survey on internet use in Brazil

Conducted in 2006, the study covers modules on e-commerce, e-government, network security, email use, and spam in Brazilian households

The Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br) ( www.nic.br ), a non-profit civil entity created to implement the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, CGI.br ( www.cgi.br ), presents the results of the e-commerce, e-government, network security, email use, and spam modules of the 2nd Survey on the Use of Information and Communication Technology in Brazil, the TIC Households 2006. Conducted between July and August last year throughout the national territory, the study investigated 10,510 households in urban areas, interviewing people aged 10 and over in all five regions of the country.

According to the TIC Households 2006, the number of internet users making purchases or using e-government services online remains small. Only 14% of individuals who have accessed the internet reported purchasing goods and services online at least once in their life, a percentage that was slightly over 15% in 2005. “And even fewer people are selling or advertising products and services online, about 3.7%, and mostly men, people with higher education and from higher social classes,” says Mariana Balboni, CETIC.br manager.

The percentage of the Brazilian population that used e-government services in the last 12 months also remained stable compared to the previous year, totaling 12.1%—noting that only individuals over 16 years old, who are of age to interact with public agencies, were surveyed.

“E-government and e-commerce activities are directly related to socio-economic factors, meaning their penetration grows as social class, income, and education level increase,” explains Mariana.

E-commerce

The percentage of internet users who made purchases online in the last 12 months (11.3%) remained the same from 2005 to 2006. The use of the network for e-commerce activities is more frequent among individuals with higher levels of education and income: among class A internet users, 40.5% purchased online, while only 10.8% of class C users reported acquiring goods and services online.

Books, magazines, or newspapers remain on the list of the most purchased products online, according to 30% of internet consumers, followed by electronic equipment, 23.6%, films and music, 20.8%, and computers and IT equipment, 19.3%. The most common payment method is the credit card, 49.5% (47% in 2005), with a significant percentage still using bank slips, 39% (35% in 2005).

The proportion of individuals who experienced problems acquiring products online remains low, 9.2%. It was 7.5% in 2005. Lack of interest or need (43.45%) is still the main reason given in 2006 among those who never made purchases online. Other reasons include a preference for making purchases in person (39.2%) and concern about security issues (19.9%). Another 16.7% of respondents stated they do not trust the product they are going to receive, a percentage that increased significantly compared to the 4.2% reported in 2005.

E-government

Among internet users who used the network in the last 12 months, CPF consultation (66%) and the submission of income tax returns (48.1%) remain the most used services. In 2005 these percentages were 51.5% and 39.7%, respectively.

There was a significant increase in seeking information related to public education services, 38.9%, and enrolling in public examinations, 36.7%, compared to the previous year. In 2005 these percentages were 22% and 27.6%, respectively.

Among the total population that did not use e-government services, 34.6% stated they would like to use them to search for employment information, 33.5% to consult the CPF, and 32.7% to seek data on public health services.

Network security

44.5% of Internet users declared not having encountered security issues this year—in 2005 it was 41%. The most frequent problem remains virus attacks with information loss or resulting in unauthorized access (20.3%), followed by virus attacks causing software or hardware damage (7.9%). There was no variation in these indicators compared to 2005 (19.6% and 7.1%, respectively).

Among internet users who have a computer at home, most adopted security practices regarding the equipment (72.7%). The most widespread security measure is still antivirus software, corresponding to 70.2% of respondents (69.8% in 2005), with its use being higher among men and people in social classes AB.

Email use and spam

As for email use, 62.5% of people who used the internet in the last 3 months reported having at least one personal email account. The most popular type remains free email, adopted by 56.4% (54.5% in 2005). Only 9% have paid accounts—a percentage that fell significantly compared to the 13.8% recorded in 2005—and 4.7% have work accounts (4.3% in 2005). The North is the region with the highest rate of internet users without email accounts, 50.5%, while in the South, Southeast, and Midwest this percentage is around 35%.

Among internet users who have an email account, the percentage of users who received spam in 2006 did not change (51.9%). The frequency of receipt also did not vary: 46.6% daily; 38.4% weekly and 12.8% monthly.

About the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br)
The Brazilian Network Information Center - NIC.br ( www.nic.br ) is a nonprofit civil entity created to implement the decisions and projects of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee - CGI.br ( www.cgi.br ), which is responsible for coordinating and integrating Internet service initiatives in the country. NIC.br is the executive arm of CGI.br and is responsible for domain name registration (Registro.br – www.registro.br ), the Center for Studies, Response and Treatment of Security Incidents in Brazil (CERT.br – www.cert.br ), the implementation and operation of Traffic Exchange Points (PTT.br – www.ptt.br ), and the Center for Studies on Information and Communication Technologies (CETIC.br – www.cetic.br ), which aims to produce and disseminate information about the availability and use of the Internet in the country.

Company: Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br)
Source: Mariana Balboni, CETIC.br manager
Internet: www.nic.br

Media contacts:
S2 Integrated Communication - https://www.s2.com.br
Claudia Fuji - claudiam@s2.com.br
José Luiz Schiavoni (MTb 14.119) joseluiz@s2.com.br

This content was automatically translated with the support of artificial intelligence.