Corporate America is spying on you. It is time to reclaim our right to privacy, peace, and freedom from unsolicited trash.

Spam is out to get you.

E-mail nuisance is really invasion of privacy

BY JOHN MAYER
GUEST COLUMNIST
Florida Today Newspaper
Feb. 24, 2004

Corporate America is spying on you. When you log on to get the latest stock report, check out the headlines or send an e-card, tracking cookies are being installed on your computer. Cookies have become a serious issue. Allen Olivo, Apple's senior director of worldwide marketing communications has said. "I think cookies could be the death of the Internet. I think they're insidious. I realize the need for good, solid tracking information, and I have no problem with that. The problem is that they're hidden, and that's an invasion of electronic privacy." Chances are that right now your hard drive has about 200 cookies installed there to gather information.

It has become common practice to use your surfing habits and / or personal information to serve up targeted advertising more effectively. You are automatically opted in to tracking programs the second you visit the majority of well-known websites as part of their terms of service. Many people don't realize this occurs and do not understand that they must opt out to stop it. How long do you think it would take to send a request to every website you have visited in the last week? Why should you have to opt out of something you did not ask for in the first place?

The danger lies in the potential misuse of information by third parties. How can we be certain that CNN or EBAY's advertising partners are not abusing this knowledge? Your information is being sold to companies like DoubleClick, Imgis, and the SpecificPOP Network who in turn sell it to spammers. These people load up your mailbox repeatedly with unwanted sales pitches that will never be read. Corporate responsibility and fairness seem to be a liability to the bottom line and as long as no one complains or understands, so be it.

In a Dec. 24th editorial, Florida Today stated: "Spam, which makes up about three quarters of all e-mail, is more than a time-wasting annoyance. It's also dangerous, pushing untested drugs and unwelcome sexual material -- and destructive, dangling get-rich-quick schemes in front of the financially naive." AOL has said that volumes of junk mail likely contribute to many of the access, speed, and reliability problems with a lot of ISP's. According to Ferris Research Inc., a San Francisco consulting group, unsolicited e-mail cost the 2003 economy $10 billion in lost productivity, equipment and software.

We should fine advertisers who hire spammers. The fear of being attacked legally will turn them into informants. Put pressure on Visa to cancel spammer transactions and give some teeth to the Can-Spam Act. To quote Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing." Write a letter. Make a phone call. It is time to reclaim our right to privacy, peace, and freedom from the unsolicited trash that we are forced to dump into the recycle bin every day.

I'll see you on the beach.