On one side, many companies are trying to get more information about their customers or potential customers. Up to a point, it's good business: The more you know about your customers, the more you can tailor your products or services to meet their needs.
On the other side are individuals, who are concerned about privacy rights. Certainly, the Web brings with it a wealth of new ways of tracking individuals, often in ways we may not want to be tracked.
In this war, software companies are the arms merchants, providing tools to both sides. Some companies offer tools that help individuals guard their privacy; such tools range from simple personal firewalls (which I recommend to everyone) to secure e-mail systems and ways to surf anonymously. On the other side are companies providing tools that help companies analyse such things as how people surf their Web sites, where they are coming from, even what operating systems they're running.
Two keys to privacy
Privacy advocates have been very vocal about the Internet's potential threat to privacy. Yet it seems that most people are not giving this much thought. I would have expected a bigger reaction from general users regarding this issue.
Most computer users I talk to don't even try to come up with difficult passwords, much less run things like firewalls. It may be that we've all gotten used to things like junk mail and telemarketers calling at dinnertime.
I believe that most people are ready to share some personal information in exchange for certain levels of personalisation and service. But the sharing of this information should be controlled. That's why tools that let you send encrypted e-mail or mask your Web surfing are important.
But it's also important to remember that the people running businesses often have very good reasons for wanting to know who's doing what where.
Clearly, disclosure and control are the two keys to privacy. Web sites should reveal what they (and their advertisers) do with personal information. Users, for their part, should be able to turn off this kind of tracking whenever they want.
