Data privacy, US common practices

Abstract

The advancement in Internet technologies has led to high expectations about the growth of e-commerce and e-business. Predictions, however, have not materialized; E-commerce represents less that 1% of the total trade and signs of a sharp growth are not in sight. Slow growth of e-commerce has often been attributed to the lack of trust in either the medium (Internet) or the agents involved in the transaction (organizations). Our research is aimed at providing some insights as what privacy policies are and how they are practiced in the US. To this effect we have surveyed firms in multiple sectors that have been listed as most active in trading online. Our findings indicate that most interactive companies have published privacy policies (PPP). However, the percentage of companies with PPP varies based on their type of business, size, and whether the company is 100% interactive or it also has brick and mortar presence.