Privacy Takes Center Stage Online - What Privacy Means to You
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It's not easy to tell whether the trend is moving toward more or less personal information available to businesses. If anything, there seems to be a move toward more awareness of potential problems with so much user information being so readily available. The fact of the matter is, many people are willing to part with personal information for personal convenience without even thinking about what they're giving up, and it isn't happening just online. To cite one example, motorists who use toll roads can purchase electronic "passes" that charge a credit card when they drive through the appropriate lane at the toll booth. They don't have to stop, but their driving habits are tracked.
If you own an online business and you want to reassure your site visitors as to how you will handle their personal information, you should set up a privacy policy and post it prominently on your site. You should detail what type of information you collect, how you will use the information, how a user can access the personal information that pertains to them and the steps they will have to take to get that data removed. You may also want to include information about the systems you have in place to protect the information of your visitors.
If you're concerned about your personal privacy online, well you should be. According to a story on Parade.com, since January 2005, nearly 160 million personal records have been stolen or inadvertently posted online. To protect yourself, don't readily give out your personal information; whether it is to a web site or a cashier, don't give your address, phone number or Social Security number unless you know how it is going to be sued. Use at least a basic firewall in cyberspace, and don't give any personal information in response to an email.
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