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.