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To: HG who wrote (85869)	12/1/1999 2:30:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Well women.com called me about logistics a while ago, and (imo) they shouldn't have been doing what they were trying to do - an online store. These are not things you should embark upon lightly. So I wonder what kind of management they have over there (although it is by no means the worst, imo etoys is pretty clueless too).

To: HG who wrote (85869)	12/1/1999 8:20:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

Cursor could be a user hex, privacy advocates say By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - A New York Internet marketing company on Tuesday said it would end a controversial practice that could lead to the tracking of individual Web user behavior after the policy came under fire from privacy advocates. Comet Systems Inc., developers of animated software that replaces the standard arrow cursor on a computer with a corporate logo or other site-specific character, had caught the ire of privacy experts who said the technology could be used to track and exploit viewer behavior. Comet, the latest in a string of Internet companies to come under fire for loose consumer privacy practices, just weeks after Internet music company Real Networks Inc. <RNWK.O> backtracked on collecting its own Web consumer behavior data. The company's change of heart followed a series of critical stories by the Associated Press after the practice was revealed by Richard Smith, a former executive with Phar Lap Software who now lives in Brookline, Mass. Jamie Rosen, Comet Systems founder, said in a statement on Tuesday that the company had never planned to use the information to track its users. Still, it announced new steps to ensure its users' privacy. "Because our software sends anonymous cursor-counting information to our servers, people have assumed that we are trying to collect information about our users," Rosen said. "I realize and regret that we haven't been clear enough about this. I'd like to clarify this matter by saying once and for all that we have never tried to track our users and we never will," he said. Comet's Web browser software allows users to download the product and change the arrow-shaped cursor into cartoons and other figures at more than 60,000 sites. For example, on a Dilbert cartoon site, a user who has downloaded the software can change the cursor into the popular comic strip character. A month ago, Smith also helped shed light on RealNetworks Inc.'s software, RealJukebox, an Internet music player. RealJukebox, collected data on users' listening habits and other activities, as well as a personal identifier, and sent it to the company, which failed to notify the practice to its users. Comet uses such numbers to tell how many of its users visit the Web sites it charges. Jason Catlett, a privacy advocate and president of Junkbusters Corp., which operates a privacy information Web site, said Comet should have alerted users to its methods. "They said nothing about the information they collected or what they planned to do with it," Catlett said. New York-based Comet said it doesn't track the Web surfing habits of any computer users with assigned numbers, nor does it collect information that could personally identify the user. "It gives them the ability to profile you," said Smith, who alerted the company of the problem last week. "They're not doing it today," replied Smith, who also helped shed light on RealNetworks Inc.'s software, RealJukebox, an Internet music player. RealJukebox, collected data on users' listening habits and other activities, as well as a personal identifier, and sent it to the company, which failed to notify the practice to its users. The company has since changed its practice. Comet said it has taken steps to formalize and display its privacy policy and have made it easier for people to uninstall its software, Rosen said. Users now can delete the download number it assigns with each copy of the Comet Cursor. Rosen also said the company will seek certification from recognized privacy organizations -- TRUSTe and the Online Privacy Association -- to give users outside verification to its policies. Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O>, the world's largest software maker, has taken steps to strengthen its privacy policies over the last year after embarrassing revelations of lapses in the company practices that included collecting consumer dat...