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more breaking privacy news (from Wall St Journal via NewsScan)



PROTESTS START UP BEFORE THE COMPANY DOES
Predictive Networks Inc., a Web company opening its doors today, began
drawing protests among privacy advocates well before its launch.
Predictive has developed software that can track every site a Web surfer
visits and then build a profile of him. Based on the profile, Predictive
automatically sends ads targeting his interests. Predictive believes that
surfers are willing to give up some privacy in exchange for free Internet
access, and advertisers are already coughing up ad rates as much as six
times higher than usual for the service. But privacy advocates caution
that the technology pushes the depth of digital eavesdropping to a new
level. "It takes a court order and tight supervision to listen over a
telephone link," says one. "It's really time for Congress to set limits
and decide that we need a privacy policy." (The Wall Street Journal 1 May
2000)
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB957139612628916016.htm

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                             Paul Jones
   "We must protect our precious bodily fluids!" General Jack D Ripper
http://MetaLab.unc.edu/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As SunSITE.unc.edu
  pjones@MetaLab.unc.edu   voice: (919) 962-7600     fax: (919) 962-8071 
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