Privacy Policy. Something many people don’t read, but when they are faced with it being misused, they are ready to take action. Privacy policies are vital to both consumers and companies - Mostly dealing with the statement of how they handle personal information. Yet some try to test those waters and bend the rules a bit. Still, the question boils down to ”when was the last time you read through the Privacy Policy”?

Facebook launched a new ad system that really tested the boundaries. The end result - consumers got upset in how the Social Networking site managed their information. On Thursday, Facebook changed their policy around. Now in reading the Privacy Policy, you will see the following:

We built Facebook to make it easy to share information with your friends and people around you. We understand you may not want everyone in the world to have the information you share on Facebook; that is why we give you control of your information. Our default privacy settings limit the information displayed in your profile to your networks and other reasonable community limitations that we tell you about.

Facebook follows two core principles:
1. You should have control over your personal information.
2. You should have access to the information others want to share.

Full Facebook Privacy Page

Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick is another instance of privacy. Basically, DoubleClick is one of the leading ad marketing companies out there. Google has many functions from basic searches, map directions, email to social networking. When a consumer uses Google, the database can record actions and target the best choices for future searches. So if you lived in Tuscon AZ and searched on Floral Shops, the system can give you solutions by putting a higher rank in sites around the Tuscon area. You wouldn’t have to wade through the floral shops located in Pittsburg to find the ones in Tuscon. This is stated in their Privacy Policy

Excerpt 1: When you use iGoogle, Google’s servers automatically record log information which may include information about your preference settings 

Excerpt2: Here is an example of a typical log entry where the search is for “cars”, followed by a breakdown of its parts:
123.45.67.89 – 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 – http://www.google.com/search?q=cars – Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 – 740674ce2123e969*
(*740674ce2123e969 is specific to the cookie Google sends for the specific computer)

It can also use the information to target audiences for an ad system. So if you go to a website with the Google Ad banner, there may be ads for Floral Shops in Tuscon AZ. By joining together Google and Doubleclick,  DoubleClick might use the information from it’s parent company to place ads on pages targeting the users. The result: a monopoly can be created focused on your information.

Now you can say, “I’ll just not use Google”: This is where the water gets muddy. You may not have ever gone to the Google website, but may have already selected a link on a “ad-sense” program that, in turn, sends information over to Google.

Marketing 101 will agree: targeted ads will do better than random ads. After all, why buy Flowers in Pittsburg if you can get them 2 miles away from your house? Who wants to drive that far just for flowers?

Google is not the only site to collect personal information. Ask.com has a similar privacy policy:

Information gathered online can generally be categorized as either anonymous or personally identifiable.

Microsoft Live Search’s Policy is the same:

We use cookies and other technologies to keep track of your interactions with our sites and services to offer a personalized experience.

Almost every website has the ability to record and collect information for site use. Even here at Geekazine, signing up to comment will hold information on the signee. You can unsubscribe, and the information will be removed. Using the search engine at the top of the page will send data to Google, for it is a part of the ad-sense program.

So where is the “Private” in privacy? More important, who is watching over this?

The Electronic Privacy Information center (EPIC) is a site dedicated to reserving the First Amendment Right of privacy. Founded in 1994, it has been a lobby free organization dedicated in protecting civil liberties for all. This site is a great resource for questionable practice, such as the Google Doubleclick deal. It offers Tools, documentation and other resources to make sure your information is not being used outside the legal boundaries.

What about outside the US? Wikipedia has a page dedicated to other countries Privacy Acts.  In Canada, it is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. In Europe: European Convention on Human Rights (Article 8). China has the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.

Protecting your privacy is not that difficult to do. The best way to do so is to read the sites’ privacy policy. Especially note the comment “this policy may change without users consent”. Understand what they are recording and how they are using it. Educating yourself – as well as your family – is the best way to control what is passed over the internet.

Cookies are logged for many sites. By removing cookies, the sites will have to “start over” on information. Keep in mind it will also reset any configurations you make on a site.

Try not to visit questionable sites. This can be harder to do, but if it sounds questionable, then be cautious. Don’t answer questions like name or email. Once again, clear cookies after leaving the site.

All in all, privacy is obviously important to everyone. Whether socializing on Facebook, searching on Google or just buying flowers in Tuscon AZ. You can protect your data by being careful on where you go. Using any website will pass data on one level or another – what browser you are using, Mac or PC, version of software, etc. Sometimes it will used for nothing. Other times it may be used for targeted ads. Keep in mind you have places to turn if you feel your privacy is being violated. After all, it is your data.