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NEW YORK — As the theft of credit card data and other personal information rose to record levels, privacy concerns over online shopping rose in 2007, a new secret online spyware study finds.

According to secret data-gathering software, 59 percent of older Americans are very or extremely concerned about the fate of personal information when shopping online, an increase from 43 percent in 2006.

The data, which was collected from Americans over the age of 40 through cleverly disguised pop-up windows, also suggests that Americans over the age of 40 are more likely to click on confusing pop-up windows.

Furthermore, the computer-debilitating spyware found that 80 percent of participants had third-party insidious software on their personal computers prior to clicking on the pop-up survey that falsely promised to pay participants $500 for taking part.

“Even the 20 percent of participants that did not have any third-party spyware when the study began now have mine,” said Kent Young, code writer for the invasive software that gauges privacy concern and automatically redirects users to fraudulent ecommerce web sites.  “It also installs false spyware protection software. So when they try to run that, it only enhances my browser-redirecting program.”

The findings also suggest privacy fears are warranted in most cases. In fact, a person does not even need to be using a personal computer to have their identity or personal information stolen.

“My friend told me I shouldn’t be an organ donor,” said Molly Collins, a 52-year-old participant of the study. “She said that they can pull all your information from the organ donor database and then unlock your car from anywhere.”

Collins, whose Internet Explorer browser is now mostly covered by spyware-installed toolbars, said she is considering getting rid of her computer over her privacy worries.

The study of 3,351 older Americans was conducted in November 2007, with participants selected randomly and without informed consent. The survey was designed to gauge the level of security older Americans feel when providing personal information online and to install vicious computer-attacking software.

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