That's the bet that Zero-Knowledge Systems is taking. Though Zero-Knowledge's product is not the first to promise online obscurity, the launch of this latest weapon in the battle for Internet privacy has brought the issue to the forefront once again. At the heart of the controversy are Internet advertisers that target ads to consumers by tracking the Web sites that they visit by using devices called cookies. Cookies assign a serial number to Internet users when they click on a Web site affiliated with the online advertiser. The cookie can then track other affiliated sites the user visits.
Advertisers use the information learned from the cookie to target ads to the appropriate audience.
For example, if an online user frequents a travel site, the advertiser can show them vacation ads. Although a cookie doesn't link a person's personal information with the assigned serial number, privacy advocates are nonetheless up in arms about the practice, saying it violates consumers' right to privacy. D.C. Shen compares this online tracking to being followed in a shopping mall, where the follower may not know your identity, but knows everything about your buying habits and interests. While many consumers say they are concerned about online privacy, analysts believe that the market for Internet privacy products may be limited. But Zero-Knowledge President Austin Hill says his firm is different because even it doesn't know its own clients' personal information.