Internet users already have the power to manage how their information is used and distributed. They can avoid sites that have unsatisfactory or unposted privacy policies, and they can set their browser to reject cookies. If Internet users relinquish information to a site with a posted policy, a contract has been formed. If the site then violates that policy, users can take legal action under existing contract law. Markets are providing parents with mechanisms that regulations would not.
Parents already have the means to protect the online privacy of their children.
While regulations would not effectively protect children's privacy, they would create a false sense of security among parents. Avoid the costs of regulation while protecting electronic commerce. New online privacy regulations would impose direct costs on online businesses. These costs would limit the growth and variety of online commerce while eroding the entrepreneurial spirit that has been a driving force behind the Internet's growth. An unregulated, free-market policy can and will accomplish what online privacy regulation would not.