The Internet’s ability to capture detailed consumer information about visitors to a Web site is a boon for marketing and advertising professionals. Marketers can use the data to customize their messages and target groups of consumers most likely to purchase products and services.

However, many of those consumers—in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions—have become wary of how the information they submit to Web sites will be used.

Many e-businesses feature their privacy policies so visitors to their site know how information is collected, who has access, how it is protected, and how it will be used.

Other e-businesses, however, are struggling over what should be included in a privacy policy. For example, do you guarantee users that the information they submit won’t be sold to other businesses? Or do you allow them to restrict the sale of information when, for example, they register for your site?

A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, and featured in an article in The New York Times, showed that 86 percent of 1,017 Internet users favored “opt in” privacy policies that make companies obtain permission from users before using personal information.

What does your privacy policy include? E-mail a copy of your privacy policy and we’ll include it in a download. Other TechRepublic members will be able to compare their privacy policies with yours or use your policy as a guideline when developing a new policy.

Of course, if you don’t want us to include the name of your business, we’ll be happy to honor your request to remain anonymous.

Send your privacy policies to us within the next 10 days. If we use it for our download, we’ll send you a TechRepublic T-shirt, featuring our new logo.