READERS COMMENTS

Subject: Sep2000 ECMgt.com: Privacy Concerns Increase
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September 1, 2000 *4,100 subscribers* Volume 2, Issue 9
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Privacy will always be an issue. As the convenience of internet shopping/browsing increases, we will be using such services more. Companies will continue to be tempted to exploit their data assets for whatever benefits interested parties will offer. The key will be accountability, legal or otherwise.

The problem is exacerbated when a company goes out of business (e-Toys), sees their data assets as the potential financial revenue product is and are moved by creditors/liquidators to raise money by whatever means necessary.  Out of desperation, the Beleaguered Company has to consider selling.

My point is, even with the most sophisticated security software to protect data in transmission or storage; the ultimate potential breach lies with the company transmitting/collecting/storing the data.

Morally, a company sworn to keep such information confidential should do so. However, it seems that whenever money enters the picture, moral and sometimes legal promises take a very rear seat.

So once again, the issues of whether an organization can be trusted with such coveted information, whether the information is the property of the organization or a non-transferable asset of the consumer - retractable at
any time, still needs to be addressed.

I believe the privacy issue will always be a problem with e-commerce simply because there are continuing efforts to learn more and more about us as consumers. E-commerce can not thrive without having the knowledge and ability to attract business. Further, most consumers are legitimately concerned about personal data being used for unintended purposes.

How does one force a company to keep its promises? What will it take to assure consumers the privacy agreement is an inviolable covenant?
(L.R.G.)

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Technology provides us with dynamic  tools to understand more about a customer in real time than we had available a  few years ago. Not everyone is comfortable with the existence of the tools or  the potential  misapplication of the information. Privacy concerns will initially increase for the next year and then decrease.

Today, there is a double standard which is being applied to the internet.   Mail order and catalog firms have been using these types of tools for years.  Just buy something from a catalog...and see how many catalogs arrive in your mailbox, your name has been sold, your preferences noted and even your frequency and income tagged. Doing this on line is considered "out of line", while I strongly support privacy standards and would never sell or release our customers' data,  I do think it strange that the press is not looking at the entire issue of information privacy, not just internet privacy!
(Monica-Luechtefeld, VP E-Commerce, Office Depot)

***|Because personal data is personal property, people should be empowered to control and benefit from its
use. The technology is available. Giving privacy power to the people builds confidence in e-commerce, and gives e-marketers valuable insights. Vendors realize that if they can develop relationships with consumers who want to share information with them, consumers will be more loyal to them, and will give more accurate information.
(Jon Koerselman, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA)

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1. I see privacy concerns increasing as more on-line users become more educated about the Internet in general (e.g., learning about cookies), and in particular more aware of what firms are doing with personal information.
Front-page news stories such as the ones about DoubleClick fuel the fire, and the lack of consistency in privacy policies is bound to lead to general skittishness for surfers.

2. Whether privacy concerns will increase or decrease will depend on the level of media coverage and on whether or not significant new technologies relating to privacy (either protecting it or defeating it) are introduced. Another
factor may be marketing -- companies that vigilantly protect the privacy of their customers may create enough of a groundswell to bring about de facto standards for privacy protection.

3. Education is the key to increasing privacy levels. If web users don't know that their personal information is being distributed, they won't take action -- ignorance is bliss. But if high-profile sites use the privacy issue to their
marketing advantage (i.e., to position themselves as better than competitors who do not respect privacy, or at least fail to state a firm policy), customers will pay attention to the issue, and, by taking their business elsewhere, will

punish companies that fail to make privacy protection a core value.
(Jim Schibler, Senior Technical Marketer, Palo Alto, California, USA)

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Privacy concerns are definitely increasing for the simple fact that more individuals are utilizing on-line products. Most services have been available for some time now but not necessarily used. More and more, the customer is being given an option to either use e-business or pay additional charges for the original manual process. A prime example is on-line banking. Who wants to make their bank account available on the net for any reputable hacker to access? This will certainly affect the diehard older generation who are used to doing their banking the old fashioned way.
(Anne Mohammed)

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Increasing. In addition to spam email, one's regular mail is filled with advertising junk mail, and when you purchase almost any product today that seller is trying to sell you something else in its product line, or some product from a partner company.   I even found advertising on the ATM screen when I withdrew cash the other day. I object to being inundated with advertising when I try to carry out an every day transaction such as reading my email or getting cash from an ATM. I consider this invasion of privacy to be similar to someone breaking into a private phone conversation. I believe many people consider this an invasion of privacy and have a response similar to road rage.  I know that I am experiencing a feeling of road rage with all this unsolicited advertising.

I would like to see ways to stop unsolicited advertising.  Possibly people could make a point of not purchasing from companies that invade their privacy.
(Jane Birkenstock)

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Privacy concerns are definitely on the increase. I think more and more people do NOT visit web sites because of security concerns. Also, I believe if more people knew just how much information is gathered on the web, they'd REALLY have a fit. It seems more people are aware in Europe and the outcry over there is much bigger.

Because of the drive to increase the bottom line, companies will always try to get away with whatever they can. Capitalism is amoral; it will do whatever is necessary to drive its single motivation: profit. Unless businesses can keep the public in the blind about how much they know, concerns will increase.

People should have the right to set their level of privacy and what information is given away. There could be a great business in creating a company that becomes the gateway to access to people (call them Single Marketing Units). In other words, whether you wanted to reach me via email, snail mail, telephone, or whatever, that access would be controlled by that company. And only through the accesses I would grant. Their business model would be to only allow the types of information that people WANT to intrude into their lives. For that matter, it would allow me to market that access. You'd have to pay that company to gain access to me. And those profits could be shared with the SMUs.
(Doug Greene, Scotts Valley, California, USA) 

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The public will be come more and more concerned with privacy as an issue to eCommerce. While further user education and industry self-policing will help to eliminate some of these concerns some legislation will be
pasted.  Look to the FTC to lead this charge. Ultimately the privacy issue will turn to a competitive advantage for some companies as consumers flock to brands they trust.

Companies will not remain viable in the long-term unless they take steps to built trust with their customers. Customers are willing to share personal information, if they feel they are getting something in return for this information and they trust whom they are dealing with. Remember open communication with your customers is the key to building that foundation of trust.
(Mark Gardella, San Francisco, California, USA) 

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Increasing - With the ever increasing number of internet users coupled with greater internet exposures, users are exposed to a larger variety of internet sites. This exposure places the users in a far vulnerable position to unknowingly divulge personal and confidential information. The sheer knowledge of the risk of divulging personal information has made users feel uncomfortable and become concerned of this occurrence

With the maturing of e-business and the use of standards like WAP, users will be transacting a lot more via the internet. The releasing of certain personal information will result in users wanting greater control and comfort over the user of this information.

A great need for legislature and ethics is required for all internet related transactions. In addition, users should be educated regarding how and when they should release personal information on the Net. Countries leading the
Internet growth (USA, EC etc) should take the lead regarding formalizing ethics on the Net and jointly prepare appropriate legislature protecting both the Internet user and e-business parties.
(Mohsien Hassim, Manager - Information Risk Management, KPMG, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA) 

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We are finding that people seem comfortable with the security that you can supply with an e-commerce solution for businesses. However, everybody wants to talk about security and the importance of security to their business. I think that it is good that people are aware and are talking about security issues. It makes me believe that each of our customers is seriously looking at the internet for more and more of their day to day business needs.

I am not a technical person, but we have enabled our customers to have any level of security that they want or need. For example a supplier may have a different pricing structure for different customers. This information has to be conveyed over the internet and the supplier customer must have the confidence that the information is going only to the party it is intended. When this is obtained with almost 100% certainty, security will become a non issue.
(Art Hamilton) 

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Increasing, but, very slowly. People still are very unclear about when to give out information and when not. They feel that giving out personal info is the only way to get something. Accept Cookies are turned on for everyone as they want less hindrance when browsing. But, some merchants use this and suck all the info they can. People still feel comfortable about providing credit card #s on the web without knowing how they will be safeguarded.

Privacy concerns will increase, but very slowly. This is because the people are not educated about the online world.

Provide courses to adults and especially school kids who are now connected about safely using the internet and configuring browsers & software on their computers. They should be told what is the right and what could be wrong. Explain to them what it means to say - "accept cookies from originating server", etc. If there is awareness amongst youngsters, they will teach their parents and hence privacy can be increased.
(Shivaram H. Mysore, Software Engineer) 

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Security on the internet is the most important issue facing the future of e-commerce. How to define security on internet and investigate the major security issues, particularly for e-eCommerce. Access the current state of internet security.  What developments are in progress to improve security? Do you think that these developments will succeed?  Justify your answer.

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Privacy concerns are increasing, because traditional media (press, TV) exaggerate every single privacy problem much more than it is important and almost all newcomers to the internet believe them.

Privacy will decrease, because the people will be better educated with what to do to avoid privacy problems and probably new technologies will be implemented to help them.

Digital Signature laws should be implemented by all countries. After that the next generation of Internet browsers should have some kind of ID built in and should be much more customizable for the user to interact with the
websites in a way adjustable to the level of trust.
(Piotr Syrycki) 

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Privacy concerns are bound to decrease as US which is on the forefront had been enabling
framing laws to curtail information being misused. Goverments across continents should evolve a generic package with mutual consents as G7 tried to frame for the Internet.
(P.H., Hyderabad, INDIA)

 

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