I especially like the quote from AlGore:
> "I welcome this important new tool for privacy protection. It
> will empower individuals to maintain control over their personal
> information while using the World Wide Web."
> -- Al Gore, Vice President, United States States of America.
The full forward follows; my apologies to the W3C members who have
already seen this today...
-- Adam
> From rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu Tue May 19 20:45:12 1998
> To: rre@weber.ucsd.edu
> Subject: W3C Publishes First Public Working Draft of P3P 1.0
> Resent-From: rre@weber.ucsd.edu
> X-Url: http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/rre.html
> X-Mailing-List: <rre@weber.ucsd.edu> archive/latest/1907
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Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 12:59:05 -0400
From: Lorrie Faith Cranor <lorrie@research.att.com>
Subject: W3C Publishes First Public Working Draft of P3P 1.0
W3C published the first complete P3P public working draft today.
You can find it online at http://www.w3.org/P3P/
I would be happy to try to answer any questions about P3P that any
of you might have. I've attached the official press release below.
It may be forwarded.
Lorrie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
W3C Publishes First Public Working Draft of P3P 1.0
Collaborative Efforts by Key Industry Players and Privacy Experts Promote
Web Privacy and Commerce
For immediate release
Contact America -- Sally Khudairi <khudairi@w3.org>
+1.617.253.8036
Contact Europe -- Ned Mitchell <ned@ala.com>
+33 1 43 22 79 56
Andrew Lloyd <allo@ala.com>
+44 127 367 5100
Contact Asia -- Yumiko Matsubara <matsubara@w3.org>
+81.466.49.1170
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.w3.org/ -- 19 May, 1998 -- The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) today announced the first public working draft of the Platform
for Privacy Preferences (P3P)TM specification. P3P applications will
enable sites to automatically declare their privacy practices in a way
that is understandable to users' browsers. Privacy practices are
embedded within the Web site and users can rely upon their client to
ensure their privacy concerns are respected. "Browsers that use P3P
look out for the user," said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and
inventor of the World Wide Web. "They can automatically check a Web
site's privacy policy, and release information only where it would be
acceptable to the user."
Privacy and Commerce
There is a growing concern regarding potential abuses of users'
privacy as well as a growing demand for sophisticated content and
services on the Web. Users today must grapple with sites that provide
little information about privacy practices, repeated requests for the
same information, and an extremely coarse control over technology. For
example, current implementations of cookies cause privacy concerns
(when accepting all cookies), are a hindrance (disabling cookies can
cause difficulties at sophisticated sites), or a nuisance (the user
must "swat away" numerous dialogue boxes).
Products using P3P will allow users to be informed of site practices,
to delegate decisions to their computer when possible, and allow users
to tailor their relationship to specific sites. Users will see P3P in
action both in the configuration of their client and during their Web
browsing. "Our goal with P3P is to create a platform that is
advantageous to both privacy and commerce," explained Joseph Reagle,
P3P Project Manager. "Many users are willing to provide information,
such as what kind of books they like, to a site they are informed
about and trust. P3P allows us to move away from non-existent or
confusing privacy practices and repetitive forms towards a win-win
scenario."
P3P has received a wide range of support. "I welcome this important
new tool for privacy protection," said US Vice President Al Gore. "It
will empower individuals to maintain control over their personal
information while using the World Wide Web."
Interoperable Foundations
Developed by the W3C P3P Syntax, Harmonization, and Protocol Working
Groups, which include both W3C Member organizations and invited
privacy experts, P3P's descriptive language is aligned with
international business practices and privacy guidelines. P3P is based
on established W3C specifications, which include HTTP, Extensible
Markup Language (XML) and Resource Description Framework (RDF). Future
versions will leverage additional W3C technologies such as the Digital
Signature Initiative (DSig).
For more information on P3P, see http://www.w3.org/P3P
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Testimonials
"AOL is pleased to have been involved from its inception in the
development of the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P). It is
through creative technological solutions like P3P that consumers
will develop the confidence and trust necessary to benefit from
robust, electronic commerce and for the Internet online medium to
grow globally. We look forward to P3P's ubiquitous
implementation."
-- George Vradenburg, Senior Vice President and General Counsel,
America Online Inc.
"P3P has been designed to provide a convenient way for Internet
users to control the use of their personal information. AT&T is
proud to have contributed to this important technology tool that
will empower users to make choices about their online
experiences. We hope P3P can go a long way towards addressing the
many concerns Internet users have about privacy."
-- Dr. Lorrie Faith Cranor, Senior Technical Staff Member, AT&T
Labs-Research.
"Coupled with strong privacy policies and practices, P3P stands
to become a robust and effective tool for privacy protection on
the Internet. Properly implemented it will help individuals
protect their privacy by providing them with control over their
personal information during interactions on the World Wide Web.
Its emphasis on individual control respects the complexities of
implementing policy in a decentralized network like the Internet.
Its reliance on a technical platform and a broad, flexible
vocabulary will allow it to address individuals' privacy concerns
as they move across the Web. Shaping the infrastructure of the
Web to support individual control over personal information is an
important step in the process or protecting privacy in this
emerging environment. The task ahead is to ensure that P3P
implementations meet the public's demand for real, effective
privacy protection."
--Deirdre Mulligan, Staff Counsel, Center for Democracy and
Technology
"Consumers are responding to e-commerce: interactive sales
approached $2 billion in 1997. That is why The DMA is invested in
the P3P process. By delivering a privacy protection program that
meets the needs of both consumers and marketers, we will be
assuring that e-commerce will thrive as the next great direct
marketing medium. Marketers want consumers to feel comfortable in
the online marketplace."
-- Patricia Faley, Vice President, Consumer Affairs, The DMA.
"Internet privacy is of the utmost concern to consumers. The P3P
goes a long way in demonstrating that Engage Technologies and
other industry leaders are taking this concern very seriously. We
are honored to have contributed to such instrumental technology,
and to the dramatic improvements it will bring to the way
information is exchanged over the Web."
-- Dan Jaye, CTO, Engage Technologies, Inc.
"We need the tools to protect our privacy online and P3P is
essential to empower all of us to make informed choices on the
basis of our privacy preferences as we navigate the Web."
-- Christine Varney, Attorney, Internet Practice, Hogan and
Hartson
"Privacy and the appropriate use of personal information is an
important part of enabling e-business on the Web. IBM is
delighted to see P3P becoming available to help consumers have
more confidence that they can safely disclose information about
themselves while controlling its use."
-- John Patrick, Vice President - Internet Technology, IBM
Corporation.
"As creators and providers of original content, the Internet
Content Coalition is delighted to see P3P becoming available."
--Christopher Barr and Dan Farber, co-chairs, Internet Content
Coalition
"P3P is absolutely central to the intelligent information
interchange services Intermind is pioneering. You can't let
machines automatically exchange sensitive data without giving
users control over that process. P3P is that control mechanism,
and we expect it to be the key to establishing a new climate of
trust for all types of Internet transactions."
--Drummond Reed, Co-Founder, Intermind Corp.
"People using the Internet will need to rely on a tool to help
them control how and when their personal information is
exchanged. P3P is a valuable tool to help them control how they
exchange information online. When a person uses the Internet they
are often asked to provide information to web-sites for a number
of purposes. We simply defined what those purposes are and how a
person can respond to those requests for their information. This
is a technological solution to the complex privacy issues facing
the Internet today. We expect that trust and confidence on the
Internet will increase dramatically as a result of the
implementation of this standard."
-- Dr. Steven Lucas, CIO, MatchLogic.
"For the Internet to achieve its full potential, people must know
that their personal information is secure and private. Unless
consumers and businesses have confidence in the privacy and
security on the Web, the movement toward electronic commerce and
personalization of online services will be dramatically slowed.
This P3P standard represents a major step forward in online
security and privacy, which will help clear the way for continued
growth and development of the Internet. Microsoft is proud to
have worked with a broad coalition of companies and organizations
to develop this P3P standard, and we will continue to work with
the W3C on industry-wide efforts to advance security and privacy
on the Web."
-- Bob Herbold, Chief Operating Officer, Microsoft.
"The best relationships are those which are build out of trust.
Narrowline was proud to participate in this project where,
together with leading technology companies, industry
organizations and advocacy groups, the Internet industry proved
it could come together to build socially aware and smart
technology standards for the digital era. P3P is an important
element in building robust technology tools to empower users and
businesses to have informed and honest relationships. This is a
critical step forward in fulfilling the promise of electronic
commerce and communication not only in the US but globally."
-- Tara Lemmey, Founder and Chairman, Narrowline
As a participant in the development of the World Wide Web
Consortium's Privacy Preferences Project (P3P), the Ontario
Information and Privacy Commissioner supports the responsible use
of the P3P standard for privacy protection. It is very
encouraging to see activities like P3P make privacy become a part
of every day life. The global nature of E-commerce and
information flow means there must be global mechanisms to allow
individuals to maintain control over their information.
Currently, legislation is uneven in its ability to provide this
protection. Solutions like P3P, developed through consensus, mean
that privacy on the Net can be improved right now.
-- Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D., Commissioner, Ontario Information and
Privacy Commissioner
"We at Open Sesame have demonstrated our commitment to user
privacy through our support of P3P, our strong privacy policy,
and the unique opt out features of our personalization software.
We intend to fully support the P3P standard throughout the Open
Sesame personalization software product line."
-- Alper Caglayan, President, Open Sesame
"As the first European company to establish sales enhancing
Virtual Communities on the Net, Somm & Partner believes that P3P
is critical to addressing essential requirements for success on
the Net: trust, confidence, privacy, and commerce. Somm & Partner
supports P3P as a mechanism for addressing commerce and privacy
concerns globally."
-- Felix Somm, President & CEO, Somm & Partner AG
"P3P is an important step in establishing a privacy dialog
between Web sites and their visitors. It provides a standard for
disclosing online privacy practices, and gives users the ability
to make informed decisions about the use of their personal
information. Coupled with third party assurance, P3P will
accelerate the growth of online commerce by helping to alleviate
consumers' biggest online concern: lack of privacy. TRUSTe looks
forward to working with technology developers to implement
assurance mechanisms like P3P that will further consumer trust."
-- Jonathan Stark, Technical Director, TRUSTe.
"I welcome this important new tool for privacy protection. It
will empower individuals to maintain control over their personal
information while using the World Wide Web."
-- Al Gore, Vice President, United States States of America.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the World Wide Web Consortium [W3C]
The W3C was created to lead the Web to its full potential by
developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its
interoperability. It is an international industry consortium jointly
run by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) in the USA, the
National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control
(INRIA) in France and Keio University in Japan. Services provided by
the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World
Wide Web for developers and users; reference code implementations to
embody and promote standards; and various prototype and sample
applications to demonstrate use of new technology. To date, more than
260 organizations are Members of the Consortium.
For more information about the World Wide Web Consortium, see
http://www.w3.org/
W3C Hosts
* MIT Laboratory for Computer Science http://www.lcs.mit.edu/
* INRIA http://www.inria.fr/
* Keio University http://www.keio.ac.jp/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
Lorrie Faith Cranor lorrie@research.att.com
AT&T Labs-Research 973-360-8607
180 Park Ave. Room B224 FAX 973-360-8809
Florham Park, NJ 07932 http://www.research.att.com/~lorrie/
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
I feel quicker than a ray of light.
-- Madonna, "Ray of Light"