Original Article: Privacy Guide I

Index
Introduction
What is P3P?
AT&T Privacy Bird
How can the average consumer protect their information?

Introduction
The current downturn in the online advertising market is forcing some websites to transform their businesses into ones which are driven by the almighty dollar. Many sites are now selling detailed information cultivated from you, the unsuspecting web surfer, in an effort to make money. Your email address, home address and telephone number could be among some of the information that websites are using for their own corporate gain.

What is P3P?
The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) is emerging as an industry standard providing a simple, automated way for users to gain more control over the use of personal information on Web sites they visit. P3P is a standardized set of multiple-choice questions, covering all the major aspects of a Web site’s privacy policies. They present a clear snapshot of how a site handles personal information about its users. P3P-enabled Web sites make this information available in a standard, machine-readable format. P3P enabled browsers can “read” this snapshot automatically and compare it to the consumer’s own set of privacy preferences. P3P enhances user control by putting privacy policies where users can find them, in a form users can understand, and, most importantly, enables users to act on what they see.

AT&T Privacy Bird
AT&T is one of the first companies to develop an application which takes advantage of a site’s P3P policy. The AT&T Privacy Bird reads P3P privacy policies and compares them with the level of privacy which you have set in the AT&T Privacy Bird preferences. AT&T Privacy Bird allows you to ask for warnings at Web sites that may: Sell your name and address to other companies without your permission, use your health or medical information for marketing, put you on mailing lists that you can’t get off of, and more. The AT&T Privacy Bird works with Internet Explorer 5+ and Windows 98/NT/2000/ME/XP.

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How can the average consumer ensure that their information is not being abused?

• Always read privacy policies - many sites provide a link to a privacy policy that outlines what information they collect and how they use that information.
• Utilize a P3P enabled program - programs such as the AT&T Privacy Bird allow you to set what type of information you want collected and will alert you when a site does or does not comply with your settings.

Originally posted on Infohuts.com and TechHelpCenter.com, which has been folded into Shiwej.com.