Privacy is an issue that uniquely plagues the online industry. Consumers don't seem to mind that banks sell their balance information, or that their in-store transactions, catalogue purchases, and magazine subscriptions are routinely sold to direct marketers. Or that security cameras . . .
Privacy is an issue that uniquely plagues the online industry. Consumers don't seem to mind that banks sell their balance information, or that their in-store transactions, catalogue purchases, and magazine subscriptions are routinely sold to direct marketers. Or that security cameras record their comings and goings. For years, customers of Radio Shack freely gave up their home addresses and phone numbers just to buy some batteries.

I suspect there is more to fear in how offline personal credit records are compiled than in whether cookies are tracking you when you click on Internet ads, but the public remains convinced there is something, well sinister, about the collection and use of online data ... or do they?

Consumers rightfully complain about the intrusiveness of pop-up and pop-under ads and the incredible amount of irrelevant spam that overflows their in-boxes, and suspect that they might become targets when they complete online registration forms, sweepstakes, e-commerce orders, or newsletter sign-ups with their e-mail addresses. These complaints are regularly offered and portrayed in the press and by privacy pundits as evidence of significant consumer concerns about violations of their privacy.

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