But only a quarter of respondents had actually read the TrustE privacy statement. A host of firms are listening to the warnings from consumer advocacy and privacy groups and are attempting to capitalize. Then there are the online consumer watchdog groups such as Junkbusters and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, both of which condemned Amazon's reversal on data sharing. For its part, Amazon bristles at the charge that it doesn't care about consumer trust, saying its shoppers' personal data is an asset, just like newspaper and magazine subscription lists that are routinely sold. The comparison is somewhat dubious, experts say.
Magazines have names and addresses of subscribers.
Amazon's data include clickstream behavior, more detailed demographics and product tastes. Dotcoms might do well to consider that example as they test the limits of consumer trust.