Wired: You Deleted Your Cookies? Think Again.

I take as a given that when I am on the internet, I am wearing "The Emperor's New Clothes". The "voluntary code of conduct" spoken about in the article is a sham. Until it is regulated (and enforced), it will continue.

"Privacy" is an illusion, unless you live in a remote cave beyond the reach of your nearest neighbor. Those who which to keep certain things private should not put such things on a computer, especially if that computer is connected to any sort of network. Those that have something really important to hide should bury it in the back yard on a night of darkened moon.

If you want people to leave you alone, flood their receptors with information- real, insignificant, fantasy, whatever. If the system is flooded with too much noise, real information becomes extremely difficult to extract...