AT&T Expands Online Privacy Policy; Emphasizes Protection of Children and Strengthens Customer Choice

Business Wire, Sept 9, 1998

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1998--AT&T today announced that it will expand its online privacy policy for all its consumer and business online services.

Recognizing that the growth of online services, including the Internet, has created additional privacy concerns for consumers and businesses, the company is strengthening its existing privacy policy to ensure that the information it gathers on its customers is zealously safeguarded.

As a first step, AT&T has consolidated its current online privacy policies into a single, consistent set of policy standards across all its online businesses. This standardization will ensure that each online business unit, or any other company who performs services on the company's behalf in connection with online services, will not sell, trade, or disclose to third parties customer identifiable information such as an online customer's name, address, telephone number or e-mail address without the customer's consent.

Second, recognizing that children, including young teens, are susceptible to online requests for personal information, AT&T has strengthened its existing privacy protections for children using the Internet effective today. For example, AT&T does not solicit or collect customer identifiable information targeted at children and teenagers under 18 and does not allow anyone else to do so on an AT&T web site. This AT&T commitment raises the bar high for the industry in protecting teenagers. Additionally, the editorial content of AT&T web sites designed for children will not knowingly promote or link to any third party web site that collects customer identifiable information unless that web site publishes a privacy policy that is easily accessible.

When customers leave an AT&T web site designed for children under 18, AT&T will display an informational screen that encourages them to be careful about providing any personal information as they visit non-AT&T web sites.

On all of its online services and web sites, AT&T will encourage children to seek parental consent before providing any information about themselves or their households to anyone on the Internet.

Third, beginning October 15, AT&T also will give its online customers the choice to opt out of receiving direct marketing communications from the company in connection with online services. Upon such election, AT&T will not contact those customers directly with marketing messages about AT&T online services or use customer identifiable information obtained from those customers' registration for or use of an online service to contact them with marketing messages about any other AT&T service.

"Protecting our customers' privacy is not new for AT&T," said Dan Schulman, president of AT&T WorldNet(R) Service and AT&T Interactive Group. "We have a long standing tradition of recognizing and protecting our customers' personal information. Given the increased concerns about privacy on the Internet, we're taking this action to strengthen and extend our existing policy so that we can continue to protect our customers, their children and their businesses from unauthorized access to their private information.

"We believe that privacy on the Internet is best fostered by self-regulation rather than government regulation," continued Schulman. "Companies like AT&T have voluntarily worked to create policies and practices that can make privacy a reality for everyone on the Internet."

AT&T is a member of the Online Privacy Alliance, an alliance of global companies and associations committed to the development of self-regulatory initiatives that foster the protection of individuals' privacy online and in electronic commerce.

AT&T's online privacy policy can be seen in its entirety on the AT&T web site at http://www.att.com, and it will be posted on all AT&T web sites on October 15.

CONTACT: AT&T

Mark Siegel

908-221-8422 (office)

973-989-1101 (home)

E-mail: masiegel@att.com

Pager: 1 888-602-5310

or

Lee Ann Kuster

602-482-0108(office)

602-482-1600 (home)

E-mail: lkuster@att.com

Pager 1-888-602-6754