Online privacy is a very touchy issue for many people, especially for people that are leery about online banking and shopping. They fear someone will hack into their computer and steal personal information. However, the majority of people continue to use the internet everyday. This implies that either they trust their internet browser to avoid any problems, or they continue to have privacy issues but realize that in order to use the internet, they must pay the price.
The FTC has recently published a report about online privacy issues, which suggests a few pointers that consumers should follow in order to ensure their protection online. First, they suggest that companies build privacy protections into their daily business practices in order to "reduce the burden on consumers."
Furthermore, it is suggested that consumers should be given the option as to whether or not the website can collect and share their information, rather than having consumers look for the disclosures on the website. Website designers know that a consumer does not want to do a few extra clicks in order to find something such as a disclosure statement. As a consumer, I do not want to search a website for the disclosure statement before doing what I have to do on the website. Granted, it would only be a few extra clicks, but it takes time that consumers do not care to spend.
Additionally, the report listed other ways that consumers and the industry could work on to improve online privacy concerns, specifically for companies to educate their consumers about "commercial data practices and the choices available to them." The FTC also recommended a "Do Not Track" option. Consumers would be able to click on this option so that when they visited sites, the website would automatically be informed that consumers did not want to be tracked. This would most likely be set up on the user's browser, similar to the cookies that are put onto your computer whenever you visit websites.
This can be both a positive and negative step for online privacy. It can give consumers the option as to whether or not they want companies to follow their clicks as well as allowing them to use sites without having to agree to numerous stipulations. When a consumer would visit a site, the site would be informed that the consumer has chosen to opt out of being tracked. The website would receive this information and not track the consumer.
However, companies will eventually be able to get around this safeguard and gather marketing information through another way. What concerns one consumer, may not concern another and vice versa. This may further complicate matters because some consumers could be satisfied with the stipulations that the FTC offers, but others may think that the information that would be opted out of is ridiculous. By tracking consumers online, companies are able to improve their understanding of what people look and shop for online. Eliminating or limiting their information may not seem like a bad idea now, but in the future it may negatively affect consumers, because companies may not be able to adequately gauge what customers are looking for in a product.
Although I have mixed feelings on the subject, I would definitely enjoy the benefit of having more options and increased security as a consumer. There are certain websites that as a consumer I would not mind if they tracked my activity. However, I certainly would not want a website I only visited on one or two occasions to have access. Time will only tell, but it is a step in the right direction for the FTC to propose a "Do Not Track" button, and will empower consumers to limit their exposure online.
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