尽管数以百万计的美国人正在慢慢地将他们的医疗和信用记录，甚至他们吃的食物记录在公司数据库中，但关于计算机隐私辩论的新闻报道是有限的。只有当政府机构想要监控万维网的使用或限制加密设备的使用时，媒体才会报道隐私。企业对个人信息的使用引发了一场激烈的、但并不广为人知的辩论。互联网在这个问题上扮演着重要的角色，因为它经常被用来收集信息和营销。问题的一方是大企业，它们希望了解一个人最详细的个人信息，以提高利润率。企业还会收集潜在雇员的个人信息以提高利润率。维权人士西姆森·加芬克尔(Simson Garfinkel)在《数据库国家》(Database Nation)一书中写道，债权人和保险公司受益于私人信息的收集。他写道:“今天，医疗记录的作用扩大了，它不涉及初级保健。”雇主和保险公司用它们来决定谁应该被雇佣和投保。它们被医院和宗教组织用来募集捐款。就连营销人员也在购买医疗记录，以寻找销售线索。” \nGarfinkel added that while in the past people fully disclosed their medical histories, they will now feel they have to "compartmentalize" their medical records to protect themselves against the inevitable disclosure of damaging private data. \nGarfinkel's book is required reading in graduate student Maureen Ellis' computer science course, A110: Introduction to Computers and Computing. Ellis said one student told her the book's descriptions of privacy violations scared her.\n"If industry regulates itself, I think you're only asking for trouble," Ellis said. "They're going to obviously write the regulations to protect their personal interests, and I'm not sure it would be in the public's best interest."\n Meanwhile, activists like Garfinkel are arguing privacy must be protected through government regulation. And although important events are unfolding, not much of the debate is taking place on the front page. \n In a recent speech, Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Orson Swindle said Internet privacy should be regulated by industry, not government. His speech is a serious turn of events, considering businesses are the primary consumers of personal information. \nIn "The Brewing Web Revolt," Charles Cooper quoted The Pew Study, which showed that 94 percent of Americans polled expected to have privacy while using the Internet and 64 percent of those polled supported criminal sanctions against those companies which violated online privacy.\nIf thousands of Americans are supposedly interested in issues of online privacy, then it's hard to understand why this issue isn't being covered. One reason might be because it's not easy to understand. It's hard to imagine how signing up for a check cashing card at a grocery store, or answering an online survey can significantly effect a person's life. But, if a person buys a lot of beer and uses a grocery store frequent buyer card to make the purchase, it's possible that this information could be sold to an insurance company and that person's premiums could be raised.\nAnother possible reason the issue isn't often covered is because the news is controlled by businesses. Newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, like other businesses, often use the Internet and targeted marketing to reach target audiences. It might not be in their best interest for on-line privacy to be more closely regulated.
