Communication of Privacy and Personalization in E-Business

1. Introduction Privacy plays a major role in the relationship between companies and Internet users. However, results from consumer surveys indicate that the communication of privacy on the Internet has so far not yet been addressed effectively enough to alleviate consumer concerns: 64% of Internet users indicated having decided in the past not to use a website, or not to purchase something from a website, because they were not sure how their personal information would be used [1]. 90% want businesses to seek permission before they use their personal information for marketing [2]. 76% of users find privacy policies very important [3] and 55% stated that a privacy policy makes users more comfortable with providing personal information [4]. However, right now privacy statements are usually written in a way which gives the impression that the authors do not really want users to read them.