Children willingly exchange personal or family information over the Internet in exchange for free gifts, according to a recent American survey.

The study conducted by University of Pennsylvania professor Joseph Turow asked questions of 1,001 parents of children aged 8 to 17 in homes with Internet connections. They also examined answers provided by 304 children age 10 and 17 in homes with access.

Sixty-five per cent of the children said it would be alright to give out the names of their favourite stores in return for a free gift. Fifty four per cent were willing to provide information on their parents retail preferences.

Nearly half of parents did not understand "cookies", or electronic files planted on computer hard drives by websites to track users.

Following the survey results, the professor has called for a Web Freedom of Information Act which would require websites to reveal all information that they have tied to users' individual names or computers.