U.S. FTC Launches "Privacy Initiative" on Websites

>The US Federal Trade Commission has launched a "Privacy Initiative"
>to investigate whether the information collected at websites (either that
>affirmatively submitted by a visitor via a form or information collected
>based upon a visitor's selection of pages at a site to reflect personal
>interests) should be the subject of regulation by the FTC.  To get
>background on this effort, you may want to read a speech by FTC Commissioner
>Varney on Electronic Commerce and Privacy which is available at the FTC's
>site under speeches (www.ftc.gov) or the Advertising Law Internet Site
>(www.webcom.com/~lewrose/home.html) under speeches.
>
>This week the staff of the FTC established a mailing list to allow
>interested parties to discuss the issues surrounding the privacy interests
>of consumers visiting web sites.  To subscribe, send the message "subscribe"
>(without the quotes) to privacy-request@ftc.gov