British consumers are happy to put their personal and financial information at risk if it means saving time on the internet, according to a survey by consultancy The Aziz Corporation.

Seventy two per cent acknowledge that there are risks involved with having personal information stored by web sites, but believe they are not great enough to outweigh the benefits of having their details and preferences ready to be quickly retrieved on sites they use regularly.

However, 73 per cent admit they do not fully understand such risks, and 64 per cent make use of the option to have their credit card and other personal details remembered to save time in future.

'It is important people are not afraid to question technology and what their personal information could potentially be used for,' said Professor Khalid Aziz, chairman of  Aziz.

'You wouldn’t communicate your most personal financial information to a stranger on the street and yet this is effectively what can happen on web sites.'

The survey also reveals ignorance as to how web sites work to track users, either for marketing purposes or more sinister objectives, such as phishing fraud. 59 per cent are unaware that when you click on a link provided in an email, the sender may be able to match your individual email address against your progress on the web site.

However, the majority (53 per cent) state that they are concerned once informed of this.

This research comes in the wake of the TK Maxx incident where hackers stole information from over 45 million payment cards used by the retailer’s customers.

It is believed the data was kept by the company for marketing purposes, to generate sophisticated customer profiling, a process common to most retailers.

While 90 per cent of home PC users believed they have up-to-date anti-virus software, when asked about anti-spyware software, of increasing importance in the battle against internet fraud, a third (33 per cent) either do not have it or do not know.