VIEWPOINT: Don't look, but somebody out there is watching you

<p>At the Marcom Asia 2000 seminar in Hong Kong earlier this month, </p><p>Robert Fitzgerald of Web Connection Media used the term "electronic </p><p>stalking" in reference to certain marketing tactics which are being </p><p>deployed on the Internet and related new technology, such as WAP. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Last month, Time magazine featured a cover story about electronic spies </p><p>in cyberspace which "mine" data every time you log on - illegally, and </p><p>without your consent - and send this information back to people who will </p><p>then use it or sell it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Consumers have long been wary about providing credit card details in </p><p>order to shop online due to security fears; now they have something else </p><p>to worry about. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Such electronic stalking and spying is far more disturbing by their very </p><p>nature: they pretend to exist solely to make your life easier, but their </p><p>methods are sinister. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Internet industry pundits have been trumpeting the fact that online, </p><p>it's the consumer who makes the rules and forces the marketer to play by </p><p>them. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Consumers have the power - or do they? Could it all be just an </p><p>illusion? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Think about it: increasingly, sites are demanding that users register </p><p>their details before they can proceed beyond a basic level of </p><p>information within that site. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It is not always clear why this information is requested, or what the </p><p>site owners are going to do with it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Sure, demographic profiles and so on are vital when it comes to </p><p>obtaining advertising support, but you have to wonder if that is where </p><p>the buck stops. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Another thing to think about: cookies. You can erase them on your </p><p>computer, but haven't you ever wondered if any trace of them remain on </p><p>the server, or if the website has 'tagged' you in some other way which </p><p>you don't know about? </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>George Orwell's predictions might have been a bit premature when he </p><p>wrote 1984, but the days of Big Brother watching our every move are here </p><p>nonetheless. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>If you're fine with that, then there's no problem. But if you don't like </p><p>the idea that someone out there is keeping tabs on you, then something </p><p>needs to be done. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>It would surely behoove the Internet industry to address this situation </p><p>now, before rising consumer opinion forces the issue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>