Privacy Defended: Protecting Yourself Online

Summary

The United States has been conducting business in regard to consumer privacy on a self-regulatory basis until now. As we are seeing with the pending legislation, the time for self-regulation might be over. The laws that have already been passed are forcing companies into federal compliance based on consumer and advocate group pressure. The EU has already made the push to strong government-enforced privacy standards. To do business in the EU, U.S. companies are being forced to modify their privacy tactics.

Even as technology becomes more invasive, we see responses led by certain groups, such as the EFF and EPIC, that are still willing to protect consumer rights. Large companies such as Microsoft and IBM, which have a lot to gain from gathering ...