TY - JOUR
T1 - Privacy rights on the internet
T2 - Self-regulation or Government regulation?
AU - Bowie, Norman E.
AU - Jamal, Karim
PY - 2006/7
Y1 - 2006/7
N2 - Consumer surveys indicate that concerns about privacy are a principal factor discouraging consumers from shopping online. The key public policy issue regarding privacy is whether the US should follow its current self-regulation course (where the FTC encourages websites to obtain private "privacy web-seals"), or whether a European style formal legal regulation approach should be adopted in the US. We conclude that the use of assurance seals has worked reasonably well and websites should be free to decide whether they have a privacy seal or not. Given the narrow scope and the wide variety among these seals, we do argue that the seals should commit themselves to the key features of a good privacy policy and that an opt-in provision be required. We believe that insufficient evidence exists to propose formal Government mandated Internet privacy regulation.
AB - Consumer surveys indicate that concerns about privacy are a principal factor discouraging consumers from shopping online. The key public policy issue regarding privacy is whether the US should follow its current self-regulation course (where the FTC encourages websites to obtain private "privacy web-seals"), or whether a European style formal legal regulation approach should be adopted in the US. We conclude that the use of assurance seals has worked reasonably well and websites should be free to decide whether they have a privacy seal or not. Given the narrow scope and the wide variety among these seals, we do argue that the seals should commit themselves to the key features of a good privacy policy and that an opt-in provision be required. We believe that insufficient evidence exists to propose formal Government mandated Internet privacy regulation.
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U2 - 10.5840/beq200616340
DO - 10.5840/beq200616340
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33745804732
SN - 1052-150X
VL - 16
SP - 323
EP - 342
JO - Business Ethics Quarterly
JF - Business Ethics Quarterly
IS - 3
ER -