To Win Trust. As the recent Air Miles debacle shows, an organization can do itself incalculable damage by making private information accessible on-line, intentionally or not. A security breach on the Air Miles Web site exposed confidential data that included the names, telephone numbers and addresses of people who had filled out an on-line application for membership in Air Miles, a program operated by Loyalty Group Canada Inc. of Toronto.
Privacy is probably one of the biggest concerns of Internet users.
People are extremely bothered by the possibility that their personal information may be revealed or made accessible through a Web site, either on purpose or through error, as in the case of Air Miles. There is also a lot of concern that many companies collect private information on-line, often through the use of questionnaires, and then misuse it for various purposes, such as reselling it to other organizations. Experience suggests that this is often the case. Within a few weeks, she started receiving credit card solicitations under that name. Clearly, one of the organizations had sold a list of visitors to the site.