Web users can already protect their information. Government intervention would harm the Internet. Stored on your hard drive, cookies are files that tell sites information about you. They are planted after a site asks your browser for permission to create them. Cookies alone cannot divulge your name or address, but they can reveal how long you stay at a page, which products you like, and which sites you visit.
Sites use the information they gather in several ways.
They monitor what attracts visitors and tailor themselves to various interests. If you give it to them, they sometimes sell your name to third parties, often to direct marketers who launch e-mail solicitations. Washington wants to end these practices. Regulators want to impose a uniform privacy policy on commercial Web sites, starting with those that cater to children. But individuals already have these rights.