Top Five Privacy Issues

While exploring privacy issues, I came upon an interesting article from the Computerworld website. Dated December 28, 2004, this article discussed the “Top Five Privacy Issues for 2005.” In general, people are very concerned about privacy, but the majority would be willing to take “significant information sharing risks for small benefit.” For example, consumers will provide enormous amounts of personal information to an airline or the federal government if it allows them to get through airport security faster. The five specific issues identified were (1) the need for a universal ID credential, probably one that uses biometrics such as fingerprinting or voice recognition for authentication. (2) Companies should actively pursue people and entities that spoof the company’s web identity. Cybercriminals target major companies with counterfeit Web sites and emails. Companies must find ways to protect their brand identity from such attacks. (3) Customers prefer to view Internet ads that are relevant to them but are concerned about the security of the information that’s used to target them. (4) When it comes to traveling, people are more concerned about their safety than their privacy. (5) Companies that are trusted perform better. Earning a customer’s trust may be a prerequisite to achieving a more profitable relationship. At first glance, these items may seem to be more relevant to corporate America than to a registry of deeds or a small law office. Still, I suspect that the general principals apply to everyone.