h the sanctity of their identification-related informationa majority do not mind their behavior being watched if it allows their shopping experience to be customized. According to the 1999 Personalized Marketing and Privacy on the Net: What Consumers Want survey conducted by the non-profit research firm Privacy and American Business, 61 percent of the 474 Internet users surveyed said that they would be positive toward receiving banner ads tailored to their personal interests rather than receiving random ads. This represents about 56 million adult users interested in such personalization. In addition, 68 percent of the users also said that they would provide personal information in order to receive tailored banner ads, on the condition that notice and opt-out are provided .The study seems to back the e-commerce firms who are watching online behavior to provide customized shopping experiences, and not privacy advocates who say that this practice is an invasion of privacy. It is the purpose for gathering the information, it would seem, that is the key to drawing the line between acceptable personalization and invasion of privacy. This is why it is important to many shoppers that a site have a privacy policy that explains what information is gathered and how it is being used, before they relinquish their information. However, according to the 1999 Georgetown Internet Privacy Policy Survey, 94% of the top 100 websites post privacy policies, and 66% of the overall websites post privacy policies . These figures sound reassuring but the exact definition of the privacy policies in themselves remains to be questioned. The 1998 Federal Trade Commission report on Internet privacy, “Privacy Online: A Report to Congress" outlined five criteria by which a commercial website can be said to have a truly comprehensive privacy policy. Known as the "Fair Information Practice Principles", they are notice/awareness, choice/consent, access/parti...
