We do not need rules requiring signs saying much the same thing at every turn. Similarly, we do not need rules dictating specific privacy policies on Web sites - and the lack of such requirements does not at all mean that no one will adopt or respect privacy policies. Finally, it is very easy to forget that transfer of credit information is not everywhere and always a bad thing. Credit card fraud is common enough that most people worry about it - the majority of Internet users who do not make purchases via the Web cite credit security as their reasons for refraining. But some people have terrible credit ratings, and can only recover their credit by ensuring that banks and other financial institutions have access to their credit records.
Some people decry the easy availability of consumer credit.
The more troublesome problem occurs when a site uses stealth to acquire information about its visitors without their knowledge. This can be accomplished in many ways, depending on the nature of the visitor's Net connection, operating system, browser settings, etc. Cookies record information about what the visitor does at the site, and relay that information back to the site. Many online publications use cookies to track which content pages visitors have already read, so they can know when to start providing new material. Cookies also allow secure sites to allow their most frequent users inside without providing a name and password every time the site's entrance page is loaded.