The Online Privacy Alliance
For chapters 7 and 8

With the ever-increasing use of the Internet to conduct business between organizations and individuals, more and more information is being collected by these organizations about these same individuals. The collection of personal/private information by organizations is nothing new. The same situation occurs when you place orders with telephone mail-order companies that collect personal information about you before you place an order. The problem arises with the Internet because the electronic businesses have no clear policy on what they do with the information they collect.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reported that most Internet sites do not state what they do with the information they collect. The FTC has agreed to let organizations create their own privacy rules (self-regulation), but privacy advocates are worried that this won´t work. Just in case, the FTC is considering sending legislation to Congress that would

1. require these sites to have a privacy policy readily accessible to the individuals who use the site,
2. govern the manner by which the information is collected, and
3. govern the way in which these organizations actually use the information.

Industry representatives want the government to leave the issue alone and let the industry regulate itself. To show that the industry can self-regulate, 50 IT companies and trade groups including America Online, Time Warner, and IBM, among others, have formed the Online Privacy Alliance. The alliance is proposing a new system that would allow websites to display a "seal of approval" if they meet the guidelines for collection, use, and disclosure of information collected online. This seal would show all visitors they can trust the site and the organization to properly and ethically use the information they collect. The government is remaining optimistic in light of this new alliance, but wants to see real-world results quickly. In addition to the Online Privacy Alliance, the Internet industry led by America Online, Yahoo, and others has unveiled a new ad campaign demonstrating it can handle privacy issues without government intervention. Go to http://www.privacyalliance.org for more information on the Online Privacy Alliance.

Minors and Internet Privacy

The collection of information from minors is an important Internet issue. The U.S. government, specifically the Federal Trade Commission, privacy advocates, and other Internet watchdog groups are concerned that it is too easy for minors to submit personal and potentially confidential information over the Internet without any monitoring or control. There are very few warnings on the Internet directed towards minors and their submission of information. The problem is mainly due to the anonymity of the Internet with no one on the other end. This is very different from the previous analogy to telephone mail-ordering where there will be an operator/order-taker on the other end who may be able to tell that the caller is a minor and can therefore provide some control by not allowing the order and not collecting any information. A number of software manufacturers have developed software that parents can install on their home computers that will block personal information from being sent over the Internet, as well as block Internet sites from being viewed. Examples of these software programs include Cyber Patrol, Net Nanny, and Surfwatch.

The European Union and Internet Privacy

While the United States government and businesses are working to create industry standards and guidelines for the protection of Internet privacy, this is only one country. The European Union (EU) has very strict laws concerning privacy and the Internet in that the individual must explicitly permit the collection of information about himself or herself by the organizations. These laws heavily favor the individual over the organization. Currently, the EU laws are not compatible with anything here in the US. As a result, the EU is worried that Europeans will be misled by non-EU companies into believing that certain guidelines were in effect when they actually are not. US companies are also worried that they will be restricted from conducting online business with individuals in the EU.

Points to Ponder:

1. Who should be responsible for ensuring that Internet privacy issues are enforced - the government, the industry, third-party groups, or someone else? Why? How will international issues come into play with your recommendation?

2. Have you ever experienced a "problem" with the privacy of your information on the Internet? If so, describe the situation, what you did (or didn´t do), and whether the situation was resolved.

3. Is there an optimal resolution to the Internet privacy issue? Or, will some people and groups always feel that there are too many restrictions and other people and groups always feel that there are too few restrictions?