Digital Footprints (Article in UK Guardian)

[Martin Minow <minow@apple.com>]

The online edition of the UK Guardian newspaper has a long
article on the way that "Internet users leave traces and records
of every online action, from sending e-mail or posting to
newsgroups to visiting Web sites."

... "At the moment unwanted e-mail is about the limit of the
intrusion, but this could change. Internet commentator Dominique
Paul Noth points out: "You have no guarantee that the information is
intelligently or even accurately employed to your benefit." As more
information is collected, it is more useful to those collecting it
- and less easily controlled."

... One alternative is making yourself anonymous by deleting cookie
files and using mail programs that disguise your identity."

"However, making yourself anonymous online means that you cannot
personalise Web pages, ask for information via e-mail, or join
mailing lists. The issue, as Noth and other commentators recognise,
is more to do with how this information is used. Credit card companies
know what we are buying, and there is a legal framework to control
their use of this information. There is no such framework in force
for online information. 

"It seems that the very lack of "real world" controls over online
activity which many Internet users favour has created the environment
in which marketing companies can thrive. As long as the Internet
is seen as somehow outside the reach of the law, then there will be
those who abuse its freedom. So as you surf for Christmas presents,
look out for surprises in your mailbox as a result"

The full article is at:

http://go2.guardian.co.uk/internet/961121wwonDigitlafootprint.html
(Note that newspaper articles on the Web are often only visible
for a short time.)

Martin Minow
minow@apple.com