The user still has the rights to it. Experts predict there will be regulations in only a year or so. Recently, the FTC has lined up a 40 member panel, the Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security, to study handling of data by online commercial firms. This, no doubt, represents a large step towards data management. Self regulation is inadequate and unreliable, and the US has begun to realize that, and recognize the need for more concrete restrictions.
Privacy is a fundamental human right, and the Internet is a huge, unregulated threat.
If we continue with the present policy of inaction, it could very well lead to the break up of any kind of privacy altogether. 2001 CollegeNET, Inc.