NEGATIVE — CONSUMER/INTERNET — SIGNIFICANCE� 400

INFOMEDIARIES SOLVE — PEOPLE CAN "SELL" THEIR INFORMATION

SOFTWARE CAN ALLOW INTERNET USERS TO "SELL" THE INFORMATION THEY WANT TO SHARE

Leslie Miller; Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY, March 31, 1999, SECTION: LIFE; Pg. 4D TITLE: Keeping 'pry' out of the privacy debate New tools help consumers protect personal data from an encroaching Web // acs-EE2001

One is Persona, by a company called PrivaSeek of Louisville, Colo. Due by the end of May, it will allow consumers to surf anonymously but also "sell" their information in exchange for discounts. When a user goes to a Persona-enabled site, the program would say, "I'll tell you something about myself if you'll give me a 5% discount." PrivaSeek (www.privaseek.com) will get a commission if a transaction follows.

INFOMEDIARIES WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION

William W. Streeter, Editor-in-Chief, ABA Banking Journal, March, 1999; Pg. 15 TITLE: Can privacy survive in a database world? // acs-VT2001

Furthermore, as people begin to realize the value of their data, they may begin to seek compensation for it.

This point is raised in the article, "Private Lives," by John Hagel, III, and Marc Singer in the current issue of the McKinsey Quarterly. The authors maintain that consumers are beginning to realize that technology provides them with the means to restrict access to their data -- particularly Internet access. They predict the rise of information conduits or "infomediaries" who will collect vast troves of information -- willingly proffered by individuals -- and resell it for profit.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER WALLET STORY

Sheila R. Cherry; Insight on the News, February 07, 2000, Pg. 24 TITLE: Getting to Know All About You // acs-EE2001

But so common is the commercialization of the SSN that when wallet manufacturers used mock Social Security cards imprinted with a "dummy" sample number to demonstrate the card-holder compartment inside, the marketing gimmick caused an unexpected problem. "Thousands of people used it as their Social Security number," Liptz recounts. Some purchasers believed the number was issued with the wallet and used it when employers requested their SSN.

INSTEAD IF INVADING ONE'S PRIVACY COMPANIES HAVE STARTED TO GIVE PEOPLE MONETARY COMPENSATION FOR THEN TO USE THEIR INFORMATION

Ann Cavoukian, Ph. D, Info. and Privacy Commission in Ontario, and Don Tapscott, Alliance for Converging Technologies, 1997; WHO KNOWS, EE2001mfp p. 101-102

In fact, the first royalty payment system has already appeared. A company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers an online service that provides precise data about consumers choices and pays royalties to consumers for the commercial use of their information. Although this system differs somewhat from the model proposed by Hunter and Rule, it is nonetheless one in which the personal preferences that consumers display toward a particular product or service (and which are captured in an "interaction behavior" profile) actually bring in some cash. This is one of the first systems in which individuals are given some form of monetary remuneration for indicating their likes and dislikes, and having them sold to commercial vendors. it's a step in the right direction, according to one individual who wrote to Privacy Journal. He wanted to know when commercial enterprises would realize that there was always a cost associated with the raw materials of doing business, including information. "Either the commercial interests involved will quit using my personal information without my expressed consent, or else they will compensate me in a direct monetary manner for the use of the information. (One of these days I'm going to copyright my personal information and give it legal standing.)"