VOOZH about

URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-ethics-quarterly/article/abs/privacy-rights-on-the-internet-selfregulation-or-government-regulation/82470263C7CB422ECC0A51FDB637A247

⇱ Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation? | Business Ethics Quarterly | Cambridge Core

Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-8lnk4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-15T23:32:34.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Get access 👁 Image
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

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.

Information

Type
Special Forum Marketing and Technology
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bowie, N. E., and Simon, R. L.. 1998. The Individual and the Political Order, 3rd ed. (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield).Google Scholar
Brenkert, G. G. 1981. “Privacy, Polygraphs and Work.” Business and Professional Ethics Journal 1(1).Google Scholar
Caudill, Eva M., and Murphy, Patrick E.. 2000. “Consumer Online Privacy: Legal and Ethics Issues.” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 19 (Spring).Google Scholar
Charters, D. 2002. “Electronic Monitoring and Privacy Issues in Business-Making: The Ethics of the Double-Click Experience.” Journal of Business Ethics 35(4): 243–54.Google Scholar
Duh, R. R., Jamal, K., and Sunder, S.. 2002. “Control and Assurance in E-Commerce: Privacy, Integrity and Security at eBay.” Taiwan Accounting Review 3(1).Google Scholar
Etzioni, A. 1999. The Limits of Privacy (New York: Basic Books).Google Scholar
Federal Trade Commission. 2000. Privacy Online: Fair Information Practices in the Electronic Marketplace: A Report to Congress.Google Scholar
Hwa, A. P. 2001. “The Role of Self-Regulation and the Internet.” Journal of Interactive Advertising 1(2) (Spring).Google Scholar
Jamal, K., Maier, M., and Sunder, S.. 2003. “Privacy in E-Commerce: Development of Reporting Standards, Disclosure and Assurance Services in an Unregulated Market.” Journal of Accounting Research 41(2).Google Scholar
Jamal, K., Maier, M., and Sunder, S.. 2005. “Enforced Standards versus Evolution by General Acceptance: A Comparative Study of E-Commerce Privacy Disclosure and Practice in the U.S. and the U.K.” Journal of Accounting Research 43(2): 73–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kupfer, J. 1987. “Privacy, Autonomy, and Self-Concept.” American Philosophical Quarterly 24(1).Google Scholar
Nijhawan, R. 2003. “The Emperor Has No Clothes: A Critique of Applying the European Union Approach to Privacy Regulation in the United States.” Vanderbilt Law Review 56(3) (April).Google Scholar
O’Neill, Onora. 1989. Constructions of Reason (New York: Cambridge University Press).Google Scholar
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). 1980. OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. Available from http://www.oecd.org//dsti/sti/it/secur/prod/PRIV-EN.HTM.Google Scholar
Rodger, W. 2000. “Activists Charge DoubleClick Double Cross.” USA Today (February 21), available at usatoday.com.Google Scholar
Tedeschi, R. 2000. “Sellers Hire Auditors to Verify Privacy Policies and Increase Trust.” New York Times (September 18).Google Scholar
62

Save article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation?

Save article to Dropbox

To save this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Dropbox account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation?

Save article to Google Drive

To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Privacy Rights on the Internet: Self-Regulation or Government Regulation?

Reply to: Submit a response