Washtech.com - Online Privacy Major Concern Voiced at Internet Outlook 2000. Continuing consumer anxiety over online privacy remains a critical obstacle to e-commerce growth. That is one of the overriding themes at "Internet Outlook 2000," a two-day conference showcasing nearly 100 dot-coms, both established and emerging.

Newsbytes - GOP Leaders Blast Administration Over Web Site Privacy.

"The first rule of government policy on privacy is that government must be first (and) best because government has access to" personal information that consumers are required by law to provide, Armey said.

Released today, the GAO report found that only 3 percent of federal agency Web sites met the fourfold voluntary privacy standard established by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for commercial sites.

Newsbytes - GOP Leaders Blast Administration Over Web Site Privacy.

CBS News | Report: Fed Fails Web Privacy Codes. "You are required to give this information to the government -- you have no choice," said Armey, the House majority leader. "You don't have to use a commercial Web site if you feel it has a bad privacy policy. Which worries you more?"

Altivore. Network ICE is posting a feature-complete version of Carnivore to this site. This is not Carnivore itself. It is another program (under development) that provides a similar feature set. It is meant as an alternative for ISPs who don't want a black box attched to their network.

Carnivore FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

San Jose Mercury News - Federal Web sites don't meet FTC privacy standards.

Congressional investigators say a huge majority of federal Web sites fail to measure up to the Federal Trade Commission's standards for Internet privacy, including the FTC's own site.

At the behest of Republican legislators, the General Accounting Office graded 65 of the government's most popular World Wide Web sites on the basis of four principles: adequate notice of practices, choice to give or not to give information, access to change personal information and assurance that information is secured properly. The report found that only 3 percent of federal sites pass.

Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, who requested the report, said government Web sites have all kinds of personal information about the public that should be held to a higher standard than commercial information that companies glean when customers visit their sites.

CNET.com - News - Entertainment & Media - Study: Government Web sites weak on privacy, security .

U.S. government Web sites and computer systems are failing to ensure adequate privacy and security, according to reports issued by the General Accounting Office.

The reports strongly suggest that the federal government has not gone far enough to protect information submitted to the Web sites of its various agencies or in defending information systems from predators.

Chicago Tribune | Print Edition -- Privacy Officers Gain Prominence As Consumers Worry About Use Of Data.

With consumers increasingly worried about how companies use their personal information to track them on the Internet, many large corporations are hiring privacy officers with broad authority to protect such data.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) thinks the government also needs a privacy czar who would coordinate information protection among federal agencies. Many of those agencies have chief information officers who are responsible for privacy issues--but that's in addition to a number of other duties.

Sounds good ... At least as long as the Privacy Officer is there to actually protect the consumer's privacy and not just give the image of protection.

Globe and Mail - Users flock to PrivacyX's no-questions e-mail service. A Vancouver e-mail encryption provider has attracted 65,000 users in one year with a service it says offers anonymity that even Carnivore, the FBI's notorious mail-surveillance system, can't penetrate.

Upside - What's up with online privacy?. People remain very concerned about maintaining their privacy on the Internet, but so far, workable solutions have not been found.

Business News from Wired News - Cracker Hits Western Union Site. Someone monitoring the website takes advantage of a security lapse during "routine maintenance" and makes off with 15,700 credit card profiles. The company says no fraud has been committed with the data.

Business News from Wired News - Selling Yourself Bit By Bit. Right at this moment, some marketing fat cat is selling your demographic data -- maybe your shoe size, your favorite color, or how you like your eggs cooked -- and you're not seeing a penny of the profits. But according to Jeff Oriecuia, a spokesman for a new company called Zimtu, you may soon be able to get some of that green.

ZDNet: PC Magazine Trends - Analyze This. Online shopping habits are getting intense scrutiny.

ClickZ : Creeping Personalization 101. Implicit data is the data that is gathered in the back end through the recorded actions of customers through your advertising and on your site. Using tools like cookies (make sure you have a privacy policy!), you can find out what type of customer someone is by the way he or she arrives at and navigates on your site.

ZDNet: Story: When the Web Gets Too Personal ... and How to Stop It. Personalizing your favorite Web site may seem cool ... but beware the dangers. I'll tell you what you gain, and what you "lose" when you hand over your personal data.

ZDNet: News: Consumers care less about Web privacy. Only a fraction of online shoppers read privacy policies before sharing personal data. Some say it may be a sign that they're no longer worried. Considering the furor over privacy, a more realistic explanation is that the consumer is tired of reading pages of legelese that basically say "We have your data and we will do what ever we want with it"

Slashdot | IE "Persistence" Tracks Without Warning.

Slashdot | Your Tivo Is Watching You.