Privacy Remains a Priority

Brandweek, May 17, 1999

A survey of 360 Web sites conducted for the Federal Trade Commission by Georgetown University business professor Mary Culnan found that 66 percent of sites surveyed now post privacy statements, compared with 14 percent last year. FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky said the FTC will send a report to Congress in the near future that will include a qualitative analysis of whether the privacy notices found in the survey provide enough information for consumers.

The report will also examine whether adequate enforcement mechanisms exist to guarantee that Web sites will honor their privacy policies. Despite the surge in sites that post privacy policies, Congress is still expected to pursue privacy legislation... Separately, privacy posting tool Privacy Wizard, developed by Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft and Washington, D.C.-based privacy advocacy group TRUSTe, was made available to the public.