BWeek.
INTERNET SHOPPING--ON
THE SLY
SURVEY AFTER SURVEY reveals that consumers jealously guard their
online privacy. But so far, industry and government efforts to prevent
merchants from exploiting the massive amounts of data they can collect on
Web surfers and online buyers have moved slowly. Now, a San Jose
(Calif.) startup aims to give privacy power back to the people. In October,
Privada Inc. plans to release a product, called Commerce Incognito, that will
allow anonymous E-commerce transactions.
The software builds on a $25,000 piece of hardware, which Privada
released in July, that allows Internet service providers to offer their
customers anonymous E-mail. Privada's system plugs into an Internet
service provider's network and uses a patent-pending method of separately
encrypting transactions, billing, and personal data. That way, Internet
merchants can be sure the product they're selling is paid for, and they can
still track the anonymous shopper's buying and browsing behavior. But they
can't track the buyer's identity without the buyer's permission, nor can they
market that data to other companies. Merchants pay Privada $500 a year
for software to receive transactions from customers.
By Robert D. Hof
EDITED BY HEATHER GREEN |
