A lot of consumers are asking these questions. A survey earlier this year by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that 54 percent of Americans express some anxiety about computers and technology being used to invade their privacy. The President of the United States, in fact, has said that each of us ought to be assured that our conversations, our correspondence and our personal lives are private. By the way, that wasn't President Clinton. Privacy was a concern then.
Privacy is a concern today.
The difference, of course, is the Internet. Many of us accept that we have to give up some privacy to be able to take advantage of the Web and electronic commerce. To buy a book online, we have to share information about our reading preferences. To apply for a mortgage, we have to provide salary and credit information. To make an online purchase, we're going to have to trust someone with our credit card number.