Lesson Four: The basics of privacy
Disclaimer: This web site provides information and guidance on a wide variety of topics. For legal advice, you should consult the guidance of an intellectual property attorney.

This section includes: email, cookie files, personal information, e-commerce, and newsgroups.

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Lesson Four will provide you with the background information needed to better understand Internet Privacy. The rise of the World Wide Web use has brought up new issues relating to privacy. Unbeknownst to users, when visiting a web site users provide private information such as their Internet address, browser type, operating system, and what page they came from to the site. Other sites collect personal information in which they sell to third parties. Legislation has been introduced to address these issues.

The issue of privacy and the Internet is how much information can be found out about you while surfing the web. More importantly, as the Internet continues to grow, how much more information will be made available electronically?

E-mail
What are the issues of e-mail privacy? Current laws do not prevent an employer from monitoring an employee's e-mail usage or computer use. (1) There is a greater trend in employers using surveillance software to monitor the use of computers by their employees. The software can record employee keystrokes even if the text is not saved. Is this an invasion of privacy? Will the government introduce new laws to prevent this? Do companies have the right to monitor their employees to prevent inappropriate behavior?

In the news: Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan fired 50 employees and disciplined 200 more for using company e-mail to pass pornography. (2)

A report from the American Management Association in 1999, estimated that as much as 27% of U.S. companies monitor their employees' e-mail. (3)

What you should know about e-mail:

• E-mail is never really deleted; deleted messages can be found on a server somewhere. Forensic analysts have the capability to retrieve deleted messages. (4)
• Using e-mail on an employer's system gives them the right to monitor your e-mail.
• Sniffer software or surveillance software is used to track e-mail for keywords.
• When sending e-mail, it passes through several postmasters before it reaches its destination, providing each postmaster with access to reading your mail.
• Since e-mail can be forwarded to others, don't say anything in e-mail that you wouldn't want someone else to read.

Take a look at David Moschella's article in Computerworld (4) for five suggested rules in writing a company policy on employee Internet usage.

Web Searching and Cookies
It has become a new trend for web companies to gather private information about web users. What is being gathered? And, how can this be accomplished? Web companies try to gather private information such as:

• Who is your ISP?
• Where is it located?
• What site you came from.
• What sites have you visited?
• What software are you using?
• What browser software and version are you using?

Web companies use cookie files to gather the above information from web users. A cookie file is a small text file that is planted in your computer that retains personal information about you and your computer. The file is called cookie.txt. This file only contains data, reducing the possibility of placing a virus on your system. When you revisit the site, the cookie file uses the information to provide you with a personally tailored screen.(5) For more information about cookie files, visit the Cookie Central web site at http://www.cookiecentral.com

How to find cookie files on your computer:

• For PC computers, under the Start button,
• Select "Find"
• Select "Files and Folders"
• In the pop-up window, enter "cookie" and search in the C drive
• Press "Find Now"

This will search your C drive for any cookie files. Cookie files are usually kept in the Windows folder and browser folder (Netscape or IE).

Aside from planting cookie files on your computer, many sites require web users to register with them before you can access the company's information for free. The web company usually wants a name, e-mail address, address, and phone number. Some sites require more information.

For example, to access the New York Times Book Reviews, http://www.nytimes.com, the New York Times requires you to register with them before you can access any book review. The registration is free, but the user must login each time they visit the site to access the information. Are these types of sites keeping statistics on your usage? Are they tracking what you read? Online travel companies such as Travelocity and Cheaptickets are other examples that require the user to first login. For more information on this topic, visit Privacy on the Internet web site at http://www0.delphi.com/navnet/privacy.html

What can you do to prevent sites from collecting your private information? Take the time to visit Privacy is Your Right web site at http://www.anonymizer.com

Personal Information on the Web
Can someone find your address and phone number on the Internet? If someone has your address, can they find your name? Can someone with your name and address find your neighbors' name and address? Can they find driving directions to your house? The answer is yes to all of the above. Take a look at the web site AnyWho.com at http://www.anywho.com. Enter a search for your name and examine the results. You will notice that your address, a map and driving directions to your house are provided as well as a listing of your neighbors' addresses. There is nothing new with this process, as cross-reference indexes have been in print for a long time. The advent of the Internet brings greater access to a world of information at your fingertips.

Note: I have found that most online phone books do not include unlisted numbers and they are six to twelve months out-of-date.

E-Commerce and Credit Card Safety
It is estimated that by the year 2003, sixty-two percent of the U.S. will be online compared to today's twenty-six percent. (6) How safe are you when purchasing items over the Internet? Most Americans are still uncomfortable sending their credit card over the Internet because of safety and privacy issues. Some online companies still provide consumers with three options to purchase items: online, by phone or by fax.(7) Experts advise consumers to purchase items online only through secure sites. The best secure system on the market is Secure Sockets Layer technology, also known as SSL, used to encrypt personal information provided by customers. SSL is supported by Internet Explorer 2.1 or later, and Netscape Navigator 2.0 or later. You can determine if a site is using SSL technology by looking for the padlock or key icon at the bottom of your browser screen. When you enter into a secured area of the web site, the padlock turns into the locked position. This informs the consumer that the site uses SSL technology. (8)

Roberta Furger's article also provides an "Online Credit Smarts" list for consumers. (9) They include:

• Buy only from companies with a good reputation
• Look for the Secure Socket Layer technology
• Keep a print copy of your online transactions
• Request a delivery date and follow up by phone if it does not arrive
• Don't hesitate to cancel the order
• Using a credit card is safer than paying by check or money order (10)
• Read the web site's warranty page for returns (11)

Take a look at the National Fraud Information Center at http://www.fraud.org for more information about Internet fraud.

Newsgroup Privacy
A newsgroup is a usenet group either moderated, in which a message is sent to someone who edits and filters the message before posting it, or unmoderated, in which anyone can post any message. A message posted on a newsgroup has the potential of being read by anyone in the world. Knowing this, watch what you post to a newsgroup.

In addition, messages are usually archived providing access to anyone. A good example of this is the DejaNews web site. Listserves also retain an archive of discussions, which can be searched. To remain anonymous within a newsgroup consider using an anonymous e-mail. Many newsgroups provide this option. Again, DejaNews provides this option to participants. You can also use an anonymous mailer such as Nymserver at http://www.nymserver.com . Remember, most people tend to discredit anonymous e-mails.

How to protect yourself
The following are some tips to protect yourself when surfing the web:
Check for the web site's posted privacy policy.
Load a privacy protection program to your computer. These programs can stop "cookie" files from being loaded on your computer (but some sites do prevent you from accessing their site if they are not able to plant a cookie file). Visit the Junkbusters web site, http://www.junkbusters.com for more information about preventing cookie files from being planted.

Clean your history file after each web searching session or set your browser preference to clear the history after one day. To change the preferences, open your browser, select "preferences" from the edit drop down menu, under the "navigator" option, change the history box number and press "ok."

Encrypt your e-mail messages
Purchase from only secure sites

Other big Internet privacy issues

• Protecting Children Educate your child about the Internet, since children are more likely to give out personal information
• Chats and forum groups
• Posting your kids pictures on the web - is it safe?
• Medical Records on the Web
• European Union

Additional Online Readings:
Center for Democracy and Technology at http://www.cdt.org
Electronic Privacy Information Center at http://www.epic.org

References:

(1) Lesavich, Stephen, "Aspects of Privacy," National Law Journal May 22, 2000 p.A23
(2) Collins, Lisa M, "Porn Gets 50 fired at Dow: Two hundred more are disciplined after a sweep of employee e-mail finds the potentially offensive material," The Grand Rapids Press July 28, 2000 p.A3
(3) Hawkins, Dana, "Office politics in the electronic age," U.S. News & World Report March 22, 1999 p.59
(4) Moschella, David, "Be reasonable about monitoring Internet usage," Computerworld November 1, 1999 p.31
(5) http://www.cookiecentral.com
(6) Ferranti, Marc, "From global to local: Companies are charting global territory on the Web, but those who capture international visitors by localizing their content are cashing in," InfoWorld October 11, 1999 p.36
(7) Furger, Roberta, "Is your credit card safe in cyberspace?" PC World February 1998 p.22
(8) ibid
(9) ibid
(10) Scheer, Lisa, "Safety Net," Forbes September 13, 1999 p.24
(11) ibid