GOF 2.5 Protecting Privacy

GOF 2.5 Sarah Baase explained privacy technologies and how companies and "techies" are trying to help the user protect him or herself from leaking information. The market responds to consumer desire for privacy by producing tools that individuals and organizations can use to protect their personal information. Companies like Netscape and Microsoft have created Web browsers that have options to alert the user when a Web site is about to store a cookie. Other companies have created a browser that can alert the user if he or she attempts to visit a site whose policies do not meet the user's privacy preferences. Web-site operators pay thousands and sometimes millions, of dollars that do privacy audits. Privacy auditors search for leaks, and review the companies privacy policy plus its compliance with the policy. How much does this actually help to protect our privacy?