And some of these privacy statements could more correctly be described as non-privacy policies. Eighty eight percent of sites did not mention anything about what they would do with any information collected from users. Online privacy concerns are real and need to be addressed. Whilst some of these conditions may be designed to protect the company from breach of copyright suits by people claiming to have given them commercial ideas over the Internet, there is no mention of the exclusion of personal information. And a good privacy policy should provide contact details for exactly who to contact to opt out.
Many web sites ask for personal details for any query or even for feedback.
Often this information is optional but rarely is this revealed. Seven sites said that any information provided was not confidential and could be disclosed to others. Privacy has become such a big issue that IBM plans to withhold advertising dollars from North American sites that do not post privacy policies. The USA Direct Marketing Association will deny membership to any company that does not comply with its privacy pledge. This includes posting privacy statements on web sites.