InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
July 17, 2000
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Privacy Evaluation: eCircles
By Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT).
ECircles is a community-building site that provides a place to upload photos, have discussions, post announcements, plan events, and have online chats with others in an invitation-only group. Generally, the policy is straightforward and underscores that the consumer is engaged in a transaction of services for information. It ends with this line: "If you do not consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use this Site." The whole thing is only about two pages long, but it's pretty specific about what information is collected, how it's collected, and how it might be used.
SealsTrust-e
Information Collection
| Type of Information | Collected? |
| Cookies | Session, navigation tracking, ad exposure |
| Anonymous information | Yes, mostly through cookies |
| Personal information | Name, E-mail required. Lots of other "optional" information collected, including gender, birthday, address, some financial. |
| IP address | Yes |
| Referrer | Yes |
| Ad view and usage | Yes (Flycast) |
Information Sharing
| Information Type | Shared? |
| Name, E-mail, etc. | Used, shared with partners |
| Site usage | Used, shared with partners and advertisers |
| Demographics | Used, shared with partners and advertisers |
| Aggregate information | Shared with partners and advertisers |
Privacy Policy Features
| Feature | Implemented? |
| Notice | Yes |
| Security | Sort of. Not collected through secure connection. |
| Options | Limited to how often eCircles will use the information, not how it will be shared |
| Access | Ability to update via form or contact person at vendor. Canýt tell if it can be deleted. |
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