Consumers should not be required to maintain packet snoopers on their own machines to determine what information is being accessed by the companies and individuals with which they interact. Internet-related technologies provide excellent examples of the threats of modern information technology. Thus, the remainder of this background statement focuses on threats to users of Internet services, and especially those who shop on the Internet. Certainly the vast majority of users on the Internet know that there are programs beyond their understanding and protocols foreign to their experience. Users of the Internet know that their information is sometimes transmitted across the globe.
Data surveillance can be both ubiquitous and transparent to the user.
Browsing the Web gives one the heady feeling of walking without footprints in cyberspace. Other factors which can affect the information available to the server include the configuration of the computer user's system, the services provided by the Internet service provider, and the software used to access the Internet. IP address is the electronic equivalent of location information, and like physical addresses and zip codes, provides probabilistic profiles of users. There are intermediaries, called remailers or anonymizers, that can prevent the release of consumer information. However, usually the server can capture the computer user's IP address.