Jay Stanley of the Forrester Group, author of the research study "The Internet Privacy Migraine," told United Press International that no simple remedy will relieve the industry's pain.
"For consumers, the big issue is trust. Whom do you trust with your personal information and are you comfortable with the ways they plan to use it," Stanley said.
He said more Internet users are becoming conscious of privacy as an issue and lawmakers have decided it's in their best interests to act.
"There is a general sense that the 107th Congress will adopt some legislation mandating an opt-out for secondary use of info. In other words, when you collect information from consumers, you have to let them decide whether the information can be used for other purposes," Stanley predicted.
As part of the same legislation, he said, he also anticipates a requirement that Web sites post a privacy policy. While he expects privacy advocates will try to give consumers a right of access, to see what information a company has about them, that measure is likely to fail.
"Because of the costs associated with that [right of access], I would expect the industry to fight very hard to defeat that," he told UPI.
As the incoming Bush administration seeks to promote bipartisan action in Congress, privacy could well serve as a unifying issue. The ranks of Congress' strongest privacy hawks include both Democrats and Republicans, made up of lawmakers as politically diverse as Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.
"Conservatives tend to mistrust the government and liberals tend to distrust corporations, so they are unified in trying to limit the reach of these institutions," Stanley said.
Stanley says one reason privacy will remain a headache for the foreseeable future is that advances in technology itself keep the issue alive. Each new round of technology brings new privacy problems. In the field of wireless communication, for example, location-based tracking technologies will allow motorists to find their way to their destinations, and parents to keep up with children.
But some of the great conveniences also have a downside in the area of privacy. It's an issue that hardware and software makers must confront, but Stanley questions whether they are prepared to do that.
"Their consciousness on the subject is rising, but technology firms tend to be engineering-oriented and thus clueless about the social implications of the technology they are producing," he said.
In his report, Stanley concludes the privacy headache will linger for years. Businesses will be pressured on one hand to restrict customer information, he said. On the other, he added, mounting competitive pressure will push them to try and profit from the data.
Copyright 2000 by United Press International.
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