AFFIRMATIVE-CONSUMER/INTERNET-INHERENCY 368

VOLUNTARY PRIVACY POLICIES ARE A FAILURE

VOLUNTARY PRIVACY PLEDGES BY COMPANIES WERE NOT FOLLOWED THROUGH ON

USA TODAY, June 25, 1999, SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 14A TITLE: More privacy, please // acs-VT2001

Last year, in an effort to head off federal rules, some of the biggest Internet companies vowed to pursue a voluntary privacy plan vigorously. They didn't deliver. A Georgetown University study found that a third of the top sites didn't post privacy policies. And even those posting policies frequently exposed customers' names, purchases and even credit card numbers to others.

INTERNET BUSINESS PRIVACY PROCEDURES SHOW THEIR HYPOCRISY ON THE PRIVACY ISSUE

CHARLES PILLER, Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2000, SECTION: Business; Part C; Page 1; TITLE: WEB FIRMS HAVE SORRY RECORD ON PUBLIC'S PRIVACY // acs-VT2001

Internet businesses love nothing more than self-regulation. They just want to be left alone, free from government meddling, to serve their shareholders and the public interest by building the new economy. But no issue demonstrates their hypocrisy better than how they handle the issue of privacy.

PRIVACY POLICY STATEMENTS ARE NOT USEFUL PROTECTIONS

John J. Fried, The Ottawa Citizen, March 20, 2000, SECTION: High Tech Report; D3 TITLE: Privacy protection becoming a priority: A ubiquitous Internet threatens to snag more personal information // acs-VT2001

Some privacy advocates worry that privacy policies, no matter how well-intentioned or widely used, will not help surfers.

Few Web visitors, the doubters say, will make their way through three-page, single- spaced posted documents larded with sometimes arcane terminology such as ''clickstream.''

(Clickstreaming is the technology that allows a Web site to track the paths that surfers take as they look at ads and at the site's pages, and as they use links to other sites.)

Nor will surfers want to wade through a privacy policy that outlines the complex business relationships between a Web site and the dozen commercial entities that may be authorized to use the site's data.