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To: ricky who wrote (26519)	4/6/1999 9:03:00 PM
From: John J. Frawley	Respond to of 42771

Report to re-ignite Net privacy debate Financial Times Posted at 11:27 p.m. PDT Monday, April 5, 1999 mercurycenter.com An upcoming report for the Federal Trade Commission on Internet sites and how they collect personal information about users is expected to reignite a long-running debate on Internet privacy. The FTC has warned it will regulate unless there is evidence that Web sites are publishing clear policies on how personal data are used. However, the political argument could become sidelined by the technological battle between vendors and consumers. A spate of new services to be launched over the next few months aims to shift the balance of power regarding personal information away from Internet companies and into the hands of Internet users. At present there is no privacy on the Internet. Internet service providers know an individual user's name and address and can track every single move the user makes on the Web. And the information is held on record: Every e-mail sent and every message posted to a news group is almost certain to leave a trace. Internet marketing groups are now collecting and storing complete ''clickstream'' data about a user's every move. The information is collected anonymously -- the user is identified only by a number left on their computer called a ''cookie'' -- but for a company which also has a user's name and address it is remarkably easy to link the two, even if not officially permitted. The FTC wants Internet companies to inform their customers about the information they collect and what they do with it. But some users feel unsettled that such complete information about them exists and is accessible. They are disturbed that their mailings might become available, whether legitimately or not. Assurances from Internet companies regarding this data may not be sufficient for some users. Privaseek, a Louisville, Colo., start-up, is one of several new businesses aiming to put more ''information control'' in the hands of the Internet user. Its planned Persona service will allow people to volunteer personal information and then stipulate how it is to be used. The company will then deny access to this information to any site which does not meet its privacy standards. A more ambitious goal is being set by Lumeria, a Silicon Valley start-up that intends to launch its Superprofile service later this month. Unlike Privaseek, which is primarily concerned with volunteered information, Lumeria aims to give the Internet user control over both volunteered personal data and the ''clickstream'' data collected from Internet movements. The customer can indicate which Web sites it trusts to have its real information. For other sites, Lumeria will present a fake identity to the site and then delete the identity when the user leaves. This will leave no useful information with the Web site. However, Lumeria will be able to collect the complete clickstream data about its users, which the user can then chose to sell in part or in whole, to marketing companies. In a particularly subversive move, Lumeria also aims to copyright its clients' personal data and clickstream information. Companies could then be sued for copyright infringement if they tried to collect similar data. Neither the Lumeria nor Privaseek service offers complete peace of mind. In both cases, there is still a complete record of a user's Internet life. If an aggrieved party alleged an online profile libeled them, they could get a court order to retrieve this information. A Montreal-based start-up is moving to address that problem. Zero Knowledge will launch a service next month which will encrypt a user's communications across the Internet. As a result, even Internet service providers will have no knowledge of the individual's online activities. However, such a service could bring its own problems of unaccountability with people hiding behind anonymity to libel people or push pornography. Whatever the pros and cons, the technology will be available very soon and could make the concerns of Congress about Internet privacy increasingly irrelevant.