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[Jim Choate <ravage@ssz.com>]

   DIGITAL AlphaServer Systems [INLINE] Digital Jam [INLINE] 
   Big Brother brouhaha
   
   
   Privacy concerns lead on-line marketers to try softer approaches
   
   
   June 23, 1997: 11:08 a.m. ET
   
   
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   Archenemies join hands - June 11, 1997
   
   FTC tackles privacy - June 10, 1997
   
   
   [IMAGE]
   
   Federal Trade Commission 
   
   TRUSTe NEW YORK (CNNfn) - There's an Internet argument going on.
   [INLINE] On one side are people who want to surf the Net in peace,
   free from the "spam" and insidious snooping of those anxious to make a
   quick buck.
   [INLINE] On the other side are businesses looking to take advantage of
   the Internet's promise as a vehicle for reaching specific customers
   cheaply and efficiently.
   [INLINE] Can the two sides coexist? Or will privacy advocates succeed
   in driving cyber-hawkers off line?
   [INLINE] Unlikely, experts say. That's because online companies are
   starting to use other marketing tools that make people worry less
   about Big Brother.
   [INLINE] The issue has heated up lately. Privacy rights groups are
   alarmed about the potential for abuse with junk e-mail and other
   invasive technology. In response, the Federal Trade Commission is
   probing whether marketers are snooping too much.
   [INLINE] The industry, meanwhile, is coming up with its own solutions
   to prevent lawmakers from stepping in.
   [INLINE] Experts say most of the practices raising eyebrows aren't
   much different from what's been happening off-line for years. Yet
   other analysts concede there is danger in an age where extensive
   personal information is available with the press of a key.
   [INLINE] "Consumers don't like to be shoulder-surfed when they're
   online," said Kate Delhagen, a senior analyst with Forrester Research
   Inc. in Cambridge. "(But) this is not a deal-breaker for the Web. The
   Web is alive and well and will continue to thrive. These little bombs
   will continue to go off, and they'll continue to be fixed."
   [INLINE] Besides e-mail, or "spamming," some marketers use browser
   technology to find out where a user has been on the Net or track him
   when he leaves a site by following his electronic footprints.
   Companies are also selling information on databases.
   [INLINE] "It's as if they can shadow you on the Web," said Susan
   Scott, executive director of TRUSTe, a non-profit organization of 50
   companies whose mission is to promote trust in online commerce.
   [INLINE] Dan Miller, senior editor with The Web Magazine in San
   Francisco, thinks junk e-mail and the other practices aren't central
   to doing business online.
   [INLINE] "You can do business online without violating someone's
   privacy," Miller said.
   [INLINE] Instead of flooding people with junk e-mail, or "spam," some
   companies such as Amazon.com ask users if they want to be notified
   about new products, Miller said. That puts the control in the hands of
   the users, he said.
   [INLINE] In other cases, companies are creating new partnerships, like
   the one between Border books and Salon, an online Arts magazine,
   Miller said. At the end of Salon's book reviews is a link to Border so
   people can order the book.
   [INLINE] Experts said the disputed methods do work - but at the risk
   of alienating customers.
   [INLINE] "People universally hate spam," said Evan Schwartz, author of
   "Webonomics" and a contributing editor to "Wired" magazine. Smart Web
   sites treat customers respectfully by avoiding mass e-mailing or
   selling information from lists, he said.
   [INLINE] Scott said spamming is more widespread among smaller
   companies because it's so cheap - pennies for each e-mail address
   compared to a few dollars for each name in direct mail.
   [INLINE] "It's a numbers game - the more you send out, the more
   response you get," Scott said. The method has about a 1 percent
   return.
   [INLINE] Sanford Wallace, founder and president of Cyber Promotions,
   the largest bulk e-mail company in the country, insists the practice
   doesn't violate privacy. But he helped organize the Internet E-Mail
   Marketing Council to promote ethical standards. The council has a
   central address where people can get their names removed from all mass
   e-mailers.
   [INLINE] While the new standard might mean the loss of huge numbers of
   customers, "there are still millions and millions left," Wallace said.
   [INLINE] Tracking has been effective to help marketers find out about
   a person's interests so they can target ads, Scott said. If a person
   visits gardening sites, for example, a vendor can flash banner ads on
   the topic.
   [INLINE] "People don't understand the technology and there's a lot of
   anxiety about it," Scott said. "There's so much bad press that it's
   past the point of educating the consumer."
   [INLINE] Controversy about tracking was so heated two archrivals,
   Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp., recently proposed a
   common standard so users can control how much information is available
   about themselves.
   [INLINE] Experts say selling information from databases isn't much
   different from what's been happening in the catalogue business.
   [INLINE] "That type of thing happens all the time," said Don Heath,
   president and chief executive of the Internet Society, a non-profit
   organization of 8,000 individuals and organizations.
   [INLINE] Eight information companies, including LEXIS-NEXIS, recently
   adopted guidelines to protect personal information like Social
   Security numbers on databases.
   [INLINE] Scott argued that most online companies still rely on
   traditional advertising.
   [INLINE] "These (disputed) methods haven't been widespread," Scott
   said. "Even Yahoo goes on TV to tell people to get on the Web. To
   reach the mass market, you have to go through traditional means."
   [INLINE] Scott thinks the uproar about electronic privacy will force
   people to think about the issue off-line, too. People have resigned
   themselves to getting piles of junk mail and catalogues, for example.
   [INLINE] "People had given up trying to protect their privacy, but
   this will make them think about it again," Scott said. Link to top 
   [INLINE] -- Martine Costello
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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   [INLINE] - Kate Delhagen
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   [INLINE] Wallace photo
   [INLINE] Sanford Wallace doesn't think bulk e-mail violates privacy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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