| Chapter 2: | Literature Review |
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how that information can be used. In recognition of privacy concerns and in order to give people a little more control over their information, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has developed the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P). The goal of the P3P is to enable users to exercise their preferences on the privacy practices of websites, ensuring that websites comply with the preferences the consumer indicated before disclosing personal information (Reagle and Cranor, 1999). Some concerned Internet users are also trying to take back control of their information by using tools to disguise their identity when using the Internet. One such tool is the Anonymizer. By using this site as a portal, a person can block other websites from capturing his/her IP address and other personal information (Schneider and Perry, 2000).
Nearly every country in the world, either in their constitutions or laws, recognizes some legal rights to privacy (Henderson and Snyder, 1999). In addition, the Council of Europe’s (COE) Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data has proposed the following principles regarding the collection and use of personal information: personal information must be obtained lawfully; personal information must be used only for the original specified purpose; personal information must be adequate, relevant and not excessive to purpose; personal information must be accurate and up to date; and personal information must be destroyed after its purpose is completed. More than 20 countries have now adopted these principles (Henderson and Snyder, 1999).
In the U.S., there are a number of laws designed to regulate the use and collection of information, including the 1970 Fair Credit Reporting Act which assures accurate credit reports and prevents abuses by information brokers, the 1978 Right to Financial Privacy Act which ensures that federal investigators use legal channels to gather information and notify individuals of concerns, and the 1994 Drivers Privacy Protection Act which limits access to DMV records.