Everytime you open up your internet browser, your every move is being carefully watched and recorded. Consumers have been growing aware of this, and are feeling as though their security may be becoming increasingly jeporadized. They feel that by sharing personal information with one website/marketer, it will be shared with all websites/marketers. This ulimately leads to the fear of an invasion of their privacy, or even their lives.
In 2004, the government created new legislation, called PIPEDA (personal information protection and electronic dadts act), that all businesses and other organiztions had to comply by. Meaning that websites/marketers cannot sell consumer information to third-parties without the permission of the consumer. However, it still seems that marketers are trying to get their hands on this consumer information at any cost.
Not all websites want to obtain this information and sell it for a profit, some sites need the information for delivery or statistical purposes, or they want to better the consumers’ experience. In most cases, this is not what the consumer sees.
On the other hand, some websites take it too far by making a consumer provide personal information too early on in the process. Forcing the consumer to provide information in order for them to continue within the website. A good example of this is the Quality Foods website. This then forces the consumer to provide false information, which is of no use to the website/marketer.
Due to the lack of trust on the internet, there have been third-party companies created, such as verisign and etrust. These companies certifie that the website/company is not selling consumers’ personal information for their own gain. Company trademarks are displayed on secure websites, which makes the consumer feel that they can trust that their information will stay secure and private.
http://www.verisign.com/verisign-business-solutions/merchant-service/index.html
In today’s society it is so hard to give out personal information to just anyone. There is always the fear in the back of our mind that by doing so, it is going to backfire. I guess this is the risk that we take in exchnage for the convenience of the internet; but as security issues arise, there is always someone out there trying to fix them.
This site explains ways for consumers to protect themselves on the Internet: http://www.selfseo.com/story-19455.php
