Online privacy isn't the issue it once was, if indeed people really ever cared about it.
Oh sure, everyone's in favor of privacy in the same way that they're in favor of Mom and apple pie, but exactly how software should preserve privacy is a more controversial issue. Were they aware of the trade-offs involved, I'm not so sure how committed people would be.
The main industry initiative facilitating user privacy is the W3C initiative, Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P). P3P provides a way for site authors to make their privacy policies
The idea behind the system is that sites create P3P files describing their privacy policies, which can easily be read by browser software. Visitors set their own privacy preferences on their browsers, and if those preferences and the policies of visited sites match up, everybody is happy and the system stays in the background. If they don't match, the browser can point this out and ask the user what to do. It can also prevent actions that would otherwise happen automatically, for example it can block cookies if the user's preferences don't match the
"P3P" is actually the name for a group of technologies that work together to create a framework to allow users to exercise preferences over the privacy practices of web sites. Applications using P3P will keep users informed about web sites' privacy practices, and allow them to dictate the extent to which their personal information is revealed to the site.
Technically, P3P consists of an XML vocabulary, a strongly defined set of base data types, and a rule-based language that acts on a set of rules used to express a user's preferences.
Web sites
Microsoft plans to incorporate the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)-developed Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) specification into its Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP operating system, both available in fall 2001. P3P lets Internet surfers select levels of privacy protection in dealing with Web sites, and in particular with the sites' use of cookie files. But many analysts question whether P3P is sufficient to protect users' privacy and worry about possible Microsoft domination of Web privacy.
The privacy tools in Internet Explorer 6 will let
Abstract
This is the specification of the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P). This document, along with its normative references, includes all the specification necessary for the implementation of interoperable P3P applications.
Status of This Document
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. The latest status of this document series is maintained at the W3C.
This is the W3C Recommendation of the the Platform for Privacy Preferences 1.0 (P3P1.0)
P3P (Privacy Preferences Platform) was established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to provide internet users with a sense of privacy when surfing the internet. W3C is the official web standards body, which essentially attempts to bring law and order to the Internet.
P3P started to allay consumer concern about the amount of data collected by web sites. The idea is that any site gathering information about its users should state why it wants the information, and how long information will be retained for. For example: "We are monitoring these
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