Concerned about your online privacy? Well you're not alone. In fact, a recent Roy Morgan Research poll indicated that "the majority of Australians (56 percent) are worried about invasion of privacy issues created by new information technologies."

Of major concern to users is the collection, security, use and disclosure of information about them on the Net.

But Australians can breathe a sigh of relief, thanks to the introduction of the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000, which will require all organisations to address privacy issues by law. The legislation covers privacy issues off and online, and "will give Australians greater control over the use of their personal information when they deal with government, business and other private sector organisations," says Australian Federal Privacy Commissioner, Malcom Crompton. The Act comes into operation at the end of 2001.

"Some businesses and organisations are already in a strong position to comply with the Act while others may need to do some work to get their privacy house in order to conform to the Act," Crompton says.

But the Act is not the only legislation or code standing between consumers and their privacy. One organisation that has been enforcing its own Code of Conduct for the protection of consumers is the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA, www.adma.com.au). The ADMA tackles issues such as privacy, consumer satisfaction, fair-trading and standards for e-commerce, has been enforcing the Code for its members for the past two years.

The ADMA Code of Conduct aims to give consumers control over their personal information by limiting the collection of customer information and requiring marketers to tell consumers who they are, how to contact them, and what they intend to do with personal information.

"We feel that organisations that market directly to consumers through the Internet, telephone, or by whatever means, will satisfy demands of the privacy legislation through adhering to the ADMA code," says Scott McClellan, Communications Director of the ADMA.

These solutions, however, are only really effective on a national scale and do not necessarily address the global nature of privacy concerns on the Web. A number of regulatory bodies have been working on global standards for online privacy. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) worked for three years developing the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P), a protocol designed to inform online consumers about privacy risks. P3P standardises corporate privacy into XML code and when you come across a compliant site, your browser reads the company's policy and warns you of any infringements.

Can any one solution, such as P3P, be the silver buller in solving the privacy issues? Lorrie Cranor, senior researcher at AT&T Research Labs and chairperson of the P3P Specification Working Group, says that other components will be needed to ensure consumer privacy, including more technologies, legislation, and self-regulatory programs.

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