DIGITAL AlphaServer Systems [INLINE] Digital Jam [INLINE] Big Brother brouhaha Privacy concerns lead on-line marketers to try softer approaches June 23, 1997: 11:08 a.m. ET [LINK] [INLINE] Archenemies join hands - June 11, 1997 FTC tackles privacy - June 10, 1997 [IMAGE] Federal Trade Commission TRUSTe NEW YORK (CNNfn) - There's an Internet argument going on. [INLINE] On one side are people who want to surf the Net in peace, free from the "spam" and insidious snooping of those anxious to make a quick buck. [INLINE] On the other side are businesses looking to take advantage of the Internet's promise as a vehicle for reaching specific customers cheaply and efficiently. [INLINE] Can the two sides coexist? Or will privacy advocates succeed in driving cyber-hawkers off line? [INLINE] Unlikely, experts say. That's because online companies are starting to use other marketing tools that make people worry less about Big Brother. [INLINE] The issue has heated up lately. Privacy rights groups are alarmed about the potential for abuse with junk e-mail and other invasive technology. In response, the Federal Trade Commission is probing whether marketers are snooping too much. [INLINE] The industry, meanwhile, is coming up with its own solutions to prevent lawmakers from stepping in. [INLINE] Experts say most of the practices raising eyebrows aren't much different from what's been happening off-line for years. Yet other analysts concede there is danger in an age where extensive personal information is available with the press of a key. [INLINE] "Consumers don't like to be shoulder-surfed when they're online," said Kate Delhagen, a senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge. "(But) this is not a deal-breaker for the Web. The Web is alive and well and will continue to thrive. These little bombs will continue to go off, and they'll continue to be fixed." [INLINE] Besides e-mail, or "spamming," some marketers use browser technology to find out where a user has been on the Net or track him when he leaves a site by following his electronic footprints. Companies are also selling information on databases. [INLINE] "It's as if they can shadow you on the Web," said Susan Scott, executive director of TRUSTe, a non-profit organization of 50 companies whose mission is to promote trust in online commerce. [INLINE] Dan Miller, senior editor with The Web Magazine in San Francisco, thinks junk e-mail and the other practices aren't central to doing business online. [INLINE] "You can do business online without violating someone's privacy," Miller said. [INLINE] Instead of flooding people with junk e-mail, or "spam," some companies such as Amazon.com ask users if they want to be notified about new products, Miller said. That puts the control in the hands of the users, he said. [INLINE] In other cases, companies are creating new partnerships, like the one between Border books and Salon, an online Arts magazine, Miller said. At the end of Salon's book reviews is a link to Border so people can order the book. [INLINE] Experts said the disputed methods do work - but at the risk of alienating customers. [INLINE] "People universally hate spam," said Evan Schwartz, author of "Webonomics" and a contributing editor to "Wired" magazine. Smart Web sites treat customers respectfully by avoiding mass e-mailing or selling information from lists, he said. [INLINE] Scott said spamming is more widespread among smaller companies because it's so cheap - pennies for each e-mail address compared to a few dollars for each name in direct mail. [INLINE] "It's a numbers game - the more you send out, the more response you get," Scott said. The method has about a 1 percent return. [INLINE] Sanford Wallace, founder and president of Cyber Promotions, the largest bulk e-mail company in the country, insists the practice doesn't violate privacy. But he helped organize the Internet E-Mail Marketing Council to promote ethical standards. The council has a central address where people can get their names removed from all mass e-mailers. [INLINE] While the new standard might mean the loss of huge numbers of customers, "there are still millions and millions left," Wallace said. [INLINE] Tracking has been effective to help marketers find out about a person's interests so they can target ads, Scott said. If a person visits gardening sites, for example, a vendor can flash banner ads on the topic. [INLINE] "People don't understand the technology and there's a lot of anxiety about it," Scott said. "There's so much bad press that it's past the point of educating the consumer." [INLINE] Controversy about tracking was so heated two archrivals, Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp., recently proposed a common standard so users can control how much information is available about themselves. [INLINE] Experts say selling information from databases isn't much different from what's been happening in the catalogue business. [INLINE] "That type of thing happens all the time," said Don Heath, president and chief executive of the Internet Society, a non-profit organization of 8,000 individuals and organizations. [INLINE] Eight information companies, including LEXIS-NEXIS, recently adopted guidelines to protect personal information like Social Security numbers on databases. [INLINE] Scott argued that most online companies still rely on traditional advertising. [INLINE] "These (disputed) methods haven't been widespread," Scott said. "Even Yahoo goes on TV to tell people to get on the Web. To reach the mass market, you have to go through traditional means." [INLINE] Scott thinks the uproar about electronic privacy will force people to think about the issue off-line, too. People have resigned themselves to getting piles of junk mail and catalogues, for example. [INLINE] "People had given up trying to protect their privacy, but this will make them think about it again," Scott said. Link to top [INLINE] -- Martine Costello [INLINE] quote box [INLINE] - Kate Delhagen [INLINE] Wallace photo [INLINE] Sanford Wallace doesn't think bulk e-mail violates privacy home | digitaljam | contents | search | stock quotes | help Copyright © 1997 Cable News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.