Privacy advocates argued that the initiative was weak and that the federal government should intervene. Yet consumers are not fleeing e-tailers in droves. Many online marketing experts, and even some online privacy proponents, said that Amazon's policy change may indicate that the Internet is balancing privacy desires and commercial needs. But consumers also want to have a relationship with a business. Privacy advocates insisted that the lack of progress doesn't mean they are abandoning their efforts to protect customer data.
Consumers consistently tell pollsters they place a high value on their privacy online.
But the Pew survey also showed that 56 percent of consumers have surrendered personal information during an online transaction, and another 10 percent would willingly do so. The key is for consumers to feel as if they know the ground rules. The other thing people were telling us is they want control over their information. It makes the process much more transparent than usual. Treating customer information as a business asset, as Amazon has decided to do, is a longstanding policy among traditional companies, some analysts said.