On-Line Behavior-"Double Click" with Security Risk for Internet Users

Abstract

Internet has been totally changing our shopping habits and activities and the number of users shopping online has been increasing day by day. Despite the growing importance of the Internet, it doesn't still exist a clear set of guidelines for e-commerce, protecting the privacy of all consumers. Consumers care about their privacy, and protecting the consumers and the online shoppers is enormously critical to the success of online commerce. Most of the online shoppers don't realize the banner ads, which they are encountering on Web pages, are sending information about them to the Internet marketing companies. These personal data include full names, mailing and e-mail addresses, phone numbers of the consumers, and much other transactional information. Hence, this information for gathering processes is usually done by online marketers without the consumers or users' permission.There is a strongly evidence that shows Double Click's new business model creates a significant risk of concrete harm to consumers' privacy. Since there are no specific rules and guidelines as well as government or industry privacy standards, web users can easily be identified without their permission whenever they participate in online activities. As the result, this situation can be considered as a violation of individual rights.In this research paper, the Double Click case was analyzed and drawn a conclusion. Taking this specific Double Click incident as a basis for my analysis and conclusion, I have tried to find legal and ethical support for my answer to the question:”Should online companies and marketers be able to gather, and share personally identifiable information about web users without their permission?”