Brian McCauley is typical of many consumers. But when ecommerce sites ask for sensitive personal information, he draws the line. The reason for his reluctance, he says, has to do less with the security of technologies than with unpredictable human behavior. If my personal information is sitting around in a database, anybody could have access to it. That's what makes me hesitant.
Information security is especially crucial in financial services and health care industries.
Aside from federal laws regulating how information must be securely transmitted and stored, building security measures into customer-facing technology is sound policy. FundsXpress of Wilmington, Del., is a good example. DoubleTwist Inc. The Oakland, Calif. bioinformatics firm provides a highly secure online environment for pharmaceutical and research organizations developing new drugs. The information is accessible only by the user and a dedicated customer service representative, who has science training in bioinformatics. Initially every one of our customers asks about security because of the nature of their information.