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Online privacy: Following
the rules
can increase your personal security
By Andrea
B. Terry • Bankrate.com
It's not easy keeping
a secret from millions of staring eyes.
That's the problem Web surfers face every day.
Sure, it's convenient to sit at home and sip a cappuccino while
perusing the travel section at an online bookstore, but it's a convenience
at the price of risk.
The personal privacy of Web surfers is threatened
the instant they log on, leaving a digital trail as they travel
from one site to another.
There are two intertwined issues: privacy and
security. Although offering a credit card number or banking online
is almost always safe, it's a person's name and address and other
identifying information that goes up for public auction.
Knowing the
rules
While the phrase "online privacy" is an oxymoron, consumers
who know and follow the rules of the game can achieve privacy online
-- to a certain degree. The bottom line for Internet surfers:
- Encryption -- Make sure
it is being used when sending sensitive information.
- Cookies -- Review them periodically
on the hard drive and delete unwanted ones.
- Security -- Look for a padlock
or key 
icon.
- Privacy Policy -- Read it
and hope the company means what it says.
The Internet works by sending information from
one computer to another until the information reaches its final
destination. When information is being sent from a home computer
to any given Web site, other computers have the capacity to peek
in and see what is being sent. This is why computer hackers have
a hobby.
And that's why computer gurus created encryption
and other protective measures. Encryption is the process of scrambling
data so that only the intended receiver can use it. To be effective,
encryption needs to be used by both the sender and the receiver.
Scrambled data
"For the most part, performing financial transactions online
are fine. But make sure the information you're providing is encrypted,"
says Alex Fowler, Director of Public Affairs at the San Francisco-based
Electronic
Frontier Foundation. "It's safer if the data stream is being
encrypted and it's important to know what level of encryption protection
is being employed ... A 56-bit algorithm is a more powerful encryption
than a 40-bit algorithm."
Whether one understands algorithms is irrelevant;
simply look and see if security is operating. Internet Explorer
shows a closed padlock
icon and Netscape Navigator shows a key
icon.While encryption can alleviate one's concerns about using a
credit card online, there exist other manners of invasion of privacy.
"If you order anything from the Internet, there
is the possibility that your e-mail address will be sold to other
companies -- it's called list brokering," says Paul Clarke, president
of Beacon Consulting Inc. in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "It's important
that when you order anything over the Internet, or volunteer your
e-mail address on a Web site, that that Web site does not release
your e-mail address to others."
Anyone in the world has the potential to find
out something about you. The information highway leads to a wealth
of personal information available to all eyes, at the ease of one's
fingertips. For example, the white pages on the Internet -- including
BellSouth,
411
and Switchboard
-- provide names, snail mail addresses, e-mail addresses and phone
numbers of just about every person alive. This information can be
erased by an individual, but it is up to that person to go to the
site and delete it.
The fact is, "Web sites are like information
sponges -- they gather as much information (about you) as possible,"
says Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center. He recommends that people not fill
in all the blanks, or just partially fill in the information requested
by a Web site. Once the information enters cyberspace, it has a
rabbit-like way of multiplying.
Where you've
been
Don't be too worried -- most of the information collected online
is simply usage data. It is data about where an individual goes
and how much time is spent at a specific site. This is particularly
useful for advertisers. Also, online services such as America Online
must track a user's sign-on and sign-off times for billing purposes.
Even news providers, collect some personal information in order
to send out free newsletters.
Computers' eyes are always watching peoples' moves on the Internet.
When a person logs onto the Internet and navigates through the World
Wide Web, some level of information gathering or tracking is done.
The information can be collected in a variety of ways: directly
when a user registers at the site or signs a guest book; and indirectly
through a browser or a "cookie."
Some Web sites may track your online activity
with a "cookie." It sounds like something fattening and delicious,
but a cookie is simply a block of text that the site places in a
file on a computer's hard drive.
Although a code in the cookie file enables the
site to label a particular user, it does not identify the user's
name or address unless such information is provided automatically
by the user's browser. Follow this path to check the information
in a Netscape browser: option, mail and news preferences and identity.
In Internet Explorer, choose view, Internet options, content and
edit profile.
Cookies are basically harmless but, despite
that, they frighten people. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse, says, "The thought of an unseen entity
placing something on their hard drive without their permission,
it's like having an intruder in your home."
'No
thanks' to cookies
No one wants an intruder in the home. Maybe that is why
some versions of browser software let users decide whether they
want to receive cookies. Some programs notify users when a Web site
is about to deposit a cookie.
The nice thing about cookies is that they personalize
a Web site when the user visits often. An example: Susan checks
the weather in her hometown of Collegeville, Pa., every morning
on the Internet. She can type in the city's name, check off the
box requesting that the information be saved and a cookie will be
placed on her computer's hard drive. Now, every morning Susan has
the convenience of getting the weather in Collegeville with just
one click.
To learn how to check for and edit cookies on
your computer, click the "Help" option on your browser
window and enter "cookies."
"The actual receiving of cookies is not critical
information, it's the sending out of information that can get people
into trouble," Clarke says.
How files and programs are sent and received between Web sites and
computers is crucial to security. With no security protection, running
or downloading files and programs from the Internet can damage a
computer and the information stored on it. It's hard to say how
often things like this happen, but it's important to know that they're
technically possible.
In the zone
Because there is wide variation in how trustworthy Web sites are,
Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer enable users to assign
any files that can be opened or downloaded on the Internet to "security
zones." Different levels of security can be set, based on where
Web information comes from and how much it is trusted.
Web browsers can also be set to create a signal
if a user is about to take an action that poses a security risk.
For example, if a credit card number is about to be sent to an insecure
site, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer will send a warning
that the site is not secure. If the site claims to be secure but
its security credentials are suspect, both browsers can send warnings
that the site might have been tampered with or might be misrepresenting
itself.
Privacy policies are important to look for when
visiting a Web site. They appear in various locations. Look for
a privacy policy under "Privacy," "About Us" or company information
sections of the site, or under a privacy icon.
Some companies don't label their information
practices specifically but make a statement such as "no information
is being collected on this Web site." That counts as a privacy policy.
If a privacy policy can't be found, send an e-mail or written message
to the site to ask about its policy.
Trying to foster trust
Ram Avrahami is director of The
Named, a nonprofit organization set up to safeguard people from
having their information sold for profit. He warns that, although
many companies have a privacy policy, it may not be a good privacy
policy. It's "an indication that the company agrees to describe
what it's doing with your information, but it is only a first step,"
he says. "As a consumer, you want to know not only what the company
does, but that it's doing the right thing."
Eyes opened to this issue after a prime example
of misuse occurred in 1999. The Federal Trade Commission filed an
Internet privacy lawsuit against Santa Monica, Calif.-based GeoCities,
a free Web site provider. The FTC alleged that the company secretly
sold private, personal information about its 2 million users to
marketers. GeoCities denied the allegations, but agreed to settle
the case.
Protect your online privacy
To protect yourself while banking and shopping
online, Bankrate.com offers these tips.
- Fill out the minimum amount of information needed
(sometimes providing a last name or an address is not necessary)
- Use caution before providing credit card numbers.
Read the Web site's privacy statement, check that the information
being sent is secure/encrypted, buy from reputable companies,
get a physical address and phone number for the company before
making a purchase.
- Children should always be monitored on the Internet.
They should be told, "Never give out an address or phone number
to strangers."
Rotenberg of EPIC sums up this whole big issue in
six simple words, "Know who you are dealing with."
-- Updated: July 7, 2003
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