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Pastimes : Internet Security/Privacy Issues and Solutions

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To: caly who wrote (97)	12/8/2000 10:29:47 AM
From: PJ Strifas	of 210

Great article and in many ways this guy is very "on the ball". When you stand back and look at privacy as an issue you have one side like Scott McNealy from SUNW who claims "there's no privacy, get over it" to others who claim to have the "magic ingredients". I think there's a very broad middle ground here where a solution (or solutions) will make their way to the top. But here's the obstacle I see in halting ANY development or I should say ACCEPTANCE of any privacy technology: Corporate America. Here's a great article you might want to read: firstmonday.org "Personal information has become the new currency of online commerce. Recent figures indicate that between 75 and 90 million Americans regularly use the Internet [1], and very rarely do these consumers actually pay for the content they see. Instead, Internet users offer up personal information about themselves as they go. Sometimes this information exchange occurs voluntarily, and sometimes it happens without the consumer knowing about it. In either case, vast warehouses of personal information are compiled, bought, and sold. Personal information is the lifeblood of the Internet economy." And that's just the tip of the iceberg! Collecting personal data is not something new to us just because of the Internet. It has been going on for decades by everyone from your phone company to your credit card company to dare I say - your supermarket (if you use their "discount card")! We were either unaware of it or did not understand the implications. I almost feel thankful that the current Internet fascination has brought this into focus! What can we do? I think there are many things we can do from a technology standpoint but until it companies change their ways - it won't matter much. I know of several technologies out there (not the current slew anonymizers et al) that can start making a difference but I don't think you'll find many companies ready to accept them and lose out on their "information currency". So how do you get the 1000s of companies to change their ways? Legislation and Civil Suits. Unfortunately these 2 paths have been the ONLY successful paths to widesweeping changes in company dynamics. I'll get off my soap box for now :) Regards, Peter J Strifas

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