When you are on a Web site you don't know well, and you are asked to
complete an online form, if you are like most people you immediately weigh in
your mind issues of how private the information you provide will be kept.
Studies have shown that 64% of consumers have left a Web site because of
concerns about privacy, and that online retailers lose $6.2 billion a year in sales
because of privacy issues. Lack of privacy conditions in building an application
or a web site is a liability; conversely, a web site where the consumer feels that
their privacy will be guarded is a competitive advantage. In our securityconscious
world privacy is a topic of concern right up there with identity theft
and spam. Yet until now there has not been one source of information for
developers on how to develop applications and web sites that will take into
consideration privacy concerns. JC Cannon draws upon the experience he has
learned from his role in the corporate privacy group at Microsoft to give
developers a complete guide to including privacy in their development process.
It covers topics such as spam, digital rights management, the Platform for
Privacy Preferences (P3P) project, and protecting database data.