Cyberspace, Free Expression, and Who Monitors It


But it doesn't end there. You know those forms you fill in on some sites that ask for your name, address, occupation, and other details? In exchange for that information, you may begin receiving all kinds of e-mail newsletters from sites who obtained your information from that form and assume they have found a way to cater to your interests and encourage you to visit their sites. Although you checked the "do not send me updates and newsletters" box, get ready for the spam! That detailed information you completed promised would not be used by that site for any purpose other than maintaining statistics contains a very clever little glitch. The operative language is that the details will not be used by that site. It does not promise your details will not be sold or given to ten other sites operated by the same firm, its subsidiary, or have some other connection to the site you visited. That may explain how you can visit the arts section at ebay then receive e-mails from artpress.com. That is why you may read a few articles about interest rates and refinancing options then begin receiving various mortgage offers from banks. There is no true way to avoid this problem. One way to constrain it is of course to avoid completing those forms that ask for more information than they need. If you can't ignore the form, submit as little and as vague information as possible. That is no guarantee you won't get spammed, but it partially limits the junk mail overload.

Then there is the whole issue of using your credit card online. As Pete Townshen learned last week in a real big way, your credit card details submitted to a Web site do not exist only between you and the site server. Those details are stored by the site and may be revealed to criminal investigators or easily accessed by anyone in the company involved with online transactions. Although using a credit card to buy things online may be a great convenience, if you don't like the idea that somebody can readily know that at 2:43 AM on 19 January 2003 you ordered four X-rated videos from playboy.com, bought some very suggestive laungerie from victoriasecret.com, then bid on several related items on ebay.com, you may need to weigh the benefits of that convenience against the costs to your privacy.

The Internet provides a detailed examination of

The copyright of the article Cyberspace, Free Expression, and Who Monitors It in International Trade is owned by Carey Goodman. Permission to republish Cyberspace, Free Expression, and Who Monitors It in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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