IP: Forrester: Privacy policies=joke

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: Alex Fowler <alex () eff org>
>
>
> "Report Labels Internet Privacy Policies 'A Joke'"
> E-Commerce Times (09/16/99); Dembeck, Chet
>
> Nine in 10 Web sites do not live up to basic privacy policies and
> in fact most privacy policies are a "joke," concludes a report
> from Forrester Research.  The report flies in the face of a
> recent FTC report on online privacy, which said that
> self-regulation is working.  The privacy-protecting fair
> information guidelines developed by the government and industry
> have been adopted by just 10 percent of electronic commerce
> sites, the report shows.  Forrester also finds that third-party
> privacy programs such as TRUSTe and BBBOnline have managed to
> gain only 500 and 42 licensees, respectively.  Online companies
> are facing more pressure to share data with each other and a
> trend is building toward the use of artificial intelligence tools
> at Web sites.  Online privacy--and by extension electronic
> commerce--could be seriously jeopardized unless the FTC takes
> several actions.  The report recommends that the FTC urge
> companies to take more concrete steps toward adopting established
> privacy policies, force companies to open profiles to users, and
> apply more pressure to third-party privacy companies.
>
>
> =====----------------------------------------------
> Alex Fowler
> Director, Strategic Initiatives Group
> Electronic Frontier Foundation
> T: 415.436.9333; F: 415.436.9993
> E: alex () eff org; W: http://www.eff.org
> =====----------------------------------------------