--- begin forwarded text X-Sender: oldbear@tiac.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 08:48:23 -0300 To: dcsb@ai.mit.edu (Digital Commerce Society of Boston) From: The Old Bear <oldbear@arctos.com> Subject: fwd: Privacy on the Internet Sender: bounce-dcsb@ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: The Old Bear <oldbear@arctos.com> INTERNET USERS VALUE THEIR PRIVACY The 1996 Equifax/Harris Consumer Privacy Survey for the Internet reveals that Internet users place a high premium on their online privacy, relative to non-Internet users. Sixty percent of the Internet users interviewed said their anonymity shouldn't be compromised when they visit a Web site or use e-mail. Only 45% of non-Internet users were sympathetic to the desire for online anonymity. About half (49%) of the Internet users who participated felt that the federal government should be restricted in its ability to scan Internet messages, compared to only a third (34%) of non-users. Seventy-one percent of Internet users did not want online service providers to track their Web surfing patterns for marketing purposes, while 63% of non-users felt this activity was intrusive. The telephone survey of 36 million people also found that Internet users tended on average to be better educated, earn more money and have a somewhat more liberal outlook than non-users. source: BNA Daily Report for Executives October 10, 1996 - page A24 CONSORTIUM TO DEVELOP NET PRIVACY PRINCIPLES A group of companies involved in electronic commerce via the Internet have banded together to develop a set of privacy principles for doing business over the Net. The Privacy Assured group includes WorldPages, Inc., Four11, I/PRO, Match.Com and NetAngels.Com, and was sparked by recent reports of database services such as Nexis/Lexis providing sensitive information to paying customers. Privacy Assured, which is a pilot program of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's eTrust project, will post its blue PA logo on Web sites that adhere to its standards. These standards include: not knowingly listing information about individuals that has not been volunteered for publication; not allowing reverse searches to determine individuals' names from e-mail addresses, phone numbers or other information; releasing only aggregated usage statistics, not individual information; and giving individuals the option to delete personal information from lists. source: Broadcasting & Cable October 7, 1996 page 87 via edupage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo@ai.mit.edu In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB@ai.mit.edu --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "The cost of anything is the foregone alternative" -- Walter Johnson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/