Privacy: The Issue That Sept. 11 Couldn't ErasePrivacy: The Issue That Sept. 11 Couldn't Erase

Think data privacy is passé in the post-Sept. 11 world? Think again. A new Harris Interactive survey finds that most consumers still worry over how companies use personal data and will avoid shopping online with a company they distrust. Talk about poor timing. Last week, it came to light that the newest Microsoft Windows Media Player ships back to Microsoft a log of movies and music played.

The Harris survey finds that three-quarters of consumers are concerned that companies share confidential information without permission. Almost as many worry that transactions may not be secure. Nearly two out of three respondents say that independent verification of policy adherence would mollify them.

Meanwhile, the new Media Player for XP logs movies and music played by users and reports those details back to Microsoft. Privacy advocates aren't amused that Media Player uploads title information and an ID number unique to each user to a Microsoft server when a user plays a CD or DVD movie.

A company representative says Microsoft is merely using the log to deliver popular features. But privacy advocates say that data could become profiles of individual tastes and interests. "What's stopping a company that knows every CD you've listened to and every DVD you've watched from saying, 'We're going to sell this now?'" says Chris Hoofnagle of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Microsoft denies that it's misusing information, saying that the data is used to deliver personalized content and richer features. David Caulton, a Microsoft product manager, says the company has no idea who's attached to each ID number. He says those concerned about privacy can operate players in offline mode or can set privacy levels to block all cookies.