Experience has shown that consumers will reject systems they do not trust, and often it is industry that is in the best position to address privacy concerns in a fast-changing technical environment. Adherence to Fair Information Practices , well-developed guidelines for handling personal information including standards for consumer access, control, and use limitation. Support for anonymity in the same way that consumers expect to make purchases, browse stores, seek information, or travel without necessarily being identified. Industry, working in concert with the public interest community and government regulators, faces a great deal of work to figure out how these standards will work in practice in the personal data environment. For those companies who manage to work out these issues in ways that consumers trust, privacy could be a source of real competitive advantage.
Marketplace approaches have limitations.
There is a natural tension between industry interests in satisfying customers and the financial incentives to collect, use, and sell personal information. And most clearly, the marketplace alone cannot address legal concerns about government access to sensitive data. The best corporate privacy practices are of limited help if sensitive information is readily available through other means without adequate privacy protections. Such data can be turned over with only the most minimal legal authorities. Access can take place in the course of criminal investigations, or civil discovery in a range of contexts.