The OPA announced that it had sent letters to about 100 companies from the Media Metrix Top 500 Web sites that did not have easy-to-find privacy policies posted online. Ernst & Young, an OPA member, researched the Top 500 sites and noted those where privacy policies could not be found quickly. These sites were sent the OPA letter.

"It may be that you already have posted a privacy policy but, if so, our researchers had a hard time finding it," wrote Christine Varney, a former Federal Trade Commissioner and advisor to the OPA. "I am writing to ask you to post a privacy policy if you have not done so already or to make the policy you posted easier to find. More than 65 percent of the most popular sites on the Web have done so and we'd encourage you to join them."

A Georgetown University study released in May showed that 66 percent of Web sites and 94 percent of the Top 100 most popular Web sites had posted privacy policies to inform consumers about what information was being collected and how it would be used.

The OPA letter urged Web sites to make sure the privacy policy provided consumers with the information they needed to make informed choices. OPA's Guidelines for Privacy Policies, the industry standard, say policies should:

• Be easy to find, read and understand
• Provide consumers with information about what information is being collected and how it will be used
• Provide information on how to exercise choice
• Disclose the security measures taken to assure the data's reliability
• Provide a contact person with whom to communicate problems or concerns
• Explain the mechanism to provide access to information to assure its accuracy.

"This report is a real validation that if you give the market a chance to work, it will," Ms. Varney said. "Good public policy and good business sense have intersected in the creation of a system that respects consumers but allows them to make choices for themselves."

Over the last year, OPA members companies have proselytized the need to post privacy policies. Seminars were held in technology centers around the country, associations worked with their membership and CEOs used speaking opportunities to tell other executives about the need to post and abide by credible privacy policies. In addition, influential companies like Disney, IBM and Microsoft announced that they would not advertise on Web sites that did not have credible privacy policies. OPA member companies joined privacy seal programs that provide assurance sites are abiding by privacy policies and give consumers a place to resolve complaints.

Meanwhile, consumers have become savvier about transacting business online. A new survey conducted by Privacy & American Business and the Opinion Research Corporation released today revealed an overwhelming majority of Net users believe that collecting information on their buying habits and preferences to tailor offers and services is fair, and that participating in these programs should be a matter of individual choice.

The survey, reported by Dr. Alan F. Westin, Professor Emeritus at Columbia University, found that 86 percent of Net users believe it is a matter of individual privacy choice to decide whether they want to provide companies with information for uses that are fully explained in return for benefits.

The survey found that, as long as a Web site informs individuals about what will be done with their personal information, strong majorities think it is "fair" to answer questions about consumer interests and preferences. Of those surveyed, 87 percent felt it was fair to answer such questions, if the information would be used for statistical analysis of interests and buying trends. Fifty-nine percent of Net users believed it was fair to provide their email addresses to reputable companies so they could send offers of products and services that reflect an individualsą interests. And, 79 percent of Net users believed it is fair for banner-type ads for products or services to appear on the PC they are given, or at the Web site they visit to receive a free service.

These findings were based on a survey of 457 Net users drawn from a representative national sample of 1.014 adults 18 years and over. The ORC telephone survey was conducted February 11-14. The margin of error was +/- 5 percent.

"People need to read privacy policies and exercise choice in the information they share," Ms. Varney said. "The OPA will continue working in the coming year to make sure that consumers are informed and comfortable with transacting business online."

Read the Letter from Christine Varney