Privacy still a vital concern for online businesses

In light of Privacy Awareness Week, I just wanted to remind folks about availability of my privacy book, the first few chapters of which are still a decent primer on privacy for business, despite being about ten years old. The book is free to download in handy .pdf format, searchable and with a table of contents. Here is the opening of Chapter 1:

Privacy is currently a subject of great concern to many consumers. You probably know this already—you are reading this book—but the point is worth emphasizing. No business today can claim ignorance of the importance of privacy as a concern among consumers, a concern that can have significant business impacts, from increased costs to revenues lost, from brand dilution to stock price depression. Every company that wants to interact with customers via the Internet should know that privacy concerns are the primary impediment to such interaction.

And more from later in the same chapter:

Privacy is a formidable challenge because nobody yet understands exactly what privacy means in today’s highly interconnected, heavily computerized, data-dependent world. About the best we can say is that privacy in the information age is a work in progress. In the same way that environmental risks continue to emerge as the dark side of the industrial/technological age, emerging privacy risks have been cast as the dark side of the information age. Whether or not you agree with that assessment, it is indisputable that many people see databases and computer networks as a threat to their personal privacy. Thus, to the extent that your business depends on access to, or makes use of, personal information, you will want to provide reassurances to those who need them, regarding the handling and protection of their personal information.

Interested? Why not download it now?