"Bad" bugs are used by nefarious sites to collect information from your hard drive and pass it back to their server without your knowledge. This is done in combination with cookies to send information about your surfing habits to third parties, also without your knowledge. For more about cookies visit:

http://WebSite101.com/Privacy_issues.html#cookies

Some of these nasty little critters can even be used from web pages or within your email to install "executable bugs," which can install a file onto your hard drive to collect information whenever you are online. For example, one such bug can scan a hard drive to send information on every document that contains word "financial."

More on Web Bugs . . .

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-5008849.html

Fortunately there is a new software available for Windows users called

Bugnosis which is provided as freeware by

Privacy Foundation.

The software is designed as a browser plug-in to notify you when a page you visit is a security risk, or simply if page contains web bugs. They are working on a version that will notify you of bugs in your email.

Call exterminator honey, we've got bugs in PC!

If you think that implementing a privacy policy isn't important, take a look at these statistics gathered by Forrester Research:

90% of online consumers want to control how their personal information is being used.

67% of consumers have reservations about giving out personal information online.

The government is trying to stay out of passing mounds of regulations on privacy issues, preferring "self regulation" instead. In 1998 they did pass "The Children's Online Privacy Act" (COPPA), making it mandatory that sites reveal how they deal with information received from minors without parental consent. European countries are much more strict when it comes to Internet Privacy Laws then US.

If you do create a privacy policy and use information collected in a different manner than stated in that policy, you may be held liable by The Federal Trade Commission. This type of deception is a violation of FTC Act, and is a very serious offense. So if you implement a policy make sure you stick to what it says.

Many of privacy site leaders offer a privacy seal program. If after creating your policy you think it has what it takes to be certified, check out

http://www.truste.org/webpublishers/pub_join.htm

http://www.enonymous.com/default2.asp

http://www.secureassure.com

http://bbbonline.com/businesses/privacy/guide.html

Becoming certified is an added plus for any commercial website and will help alleviate any fear of sharing information on part of your website guests.

So how do you protect yourself while you're online? First, by being aware that every move you make may be recorded. Second, always read a site's privacy policy so you know what's being done with information you do provide, if any. If you'd like to keep sites from gathering "invisible information" about you such as your IP address, operating system, etc., you may want to look into an anonymous browsing service which conceals your identity while surfing. Check out;

http://www.anonymizer.com/ http://www.privada.net/ http://www.freedom.net/

If you'd like to find out if a certain site has a privacy policy in place surf over to

http://www.enonymous.com http://www.privacyratings.org

Remember, temptation for website owners to sell personal information to third parties is high online due to demand for that information by advertisers. Make sure you're doing your part by being aware of who you're giving your information to, and knowing what they are doing with it.