Who Has Control

There are those who view the present ServerModel? as one which may be a potential hazard to LegitimatePrivacy?.

See: ClientSideProcessing

You can go to a library and gather a few books and read them, and as long as you do not check them out, no one needs to know what you are reading, and when. This privacy does not extend to the internet. You are identified as soon as you log-on, and logs record what particular locations you have visited, and when.

Where are these logs?

and

How visible are they to outside parties who may want access to such information?

I must confess that I do not know all the answers to the first question, and don't have a clue as to how many parties can see the information in the logs.

I have lost control.

It isn't that I would prefer to be able to hide my activities as much as it is that I would prefer to have a degree of privacy. The information about me is of interest to parties un-identified and not-revealed to me. They are observing me, but I cannot see them.

I prefer to be amongst those I know and trust. Those who share many of the same values of honesty, openeness, truthfulness and other such traits.

-- DonaldNoyes 20070817

Perhaps there are others who would vote to change the word I to we, and me to us?

There are things that can be done to minimize these problems. Use an internet connection that gives a new IP address each time you log on (DSL or Dial-Up). Check to see what info. your browser gives to web-sites, then hack this and change it if necessary. Put your Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, and History folders, into a ram-drive (this requires a reg-hack). Use false info. when setting up Internet accounts. Don't have your computer registered to you (change this personal info. to something that is not unique to you). Surf with images turned-off as much as you can (there is a little tool from M$ for this "Toggle Images.exe") because images are used to gain info. from your computer/track you. Turn off flash (you can get a tool that lets you turn it off and on) flash can be used to track you. Plus other things... Use proxies if you have to. I agree whole-heartedly that ClientSideProcessing has a lot of security and privacy issues, and if it were up to me it would not be used. But, then what do I know, because I have been accused of being the King of Dinosaurs!

The things you mention may provide some privacy in the present and future, but will do nothing to protect such fixed identifiers, as your name, address, phone number, social security number, income, credit rating, etc. Since these have been collected, distributed and archived in the past and you have no recourse so as to remove them, you can do little to protect the privacy of other information available as a result, including what your house looks like, or looked like, where you park your car, your consumption habits, etc. There are reasons and some think they are legitimate why information about consumers is necessary in the present economic environment, but I would suggest that they do not need a traceable link to a given individual or specific location. Perhaps this will be remedied in future.