Cellphone companies routinely undo the web's privacy protection.

CNN: The Internet is a surveillance state

Rarely are leaks intentional: Somebody at work might post a file on a server to download at home, a wrongly configured server might make too much of a hard drive searchable or a Web site's password-protection might be flimsy enough to be accessible to search engines.

FORBES: Google Me Not

The threats posed by cybergangs to corporate Web sites and databases, or the protection rackets formed in Russia and Brazil, indeed seem to be very serious.

FORBES: Book Review

By law--the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999--the company Web site must disclose its batting average.

FORBES: Inside InventionLand

Although the Clinton administration favors allowing the industry to regulate itself, agencies such as the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission have been discussing how to encourage privacy protection and lawmakers have talked about enacting laws that would make Web sites liable for privacy breaches on their sites.

CNN: Is the e-commerce boom fueling security holes?

As in the Safe Harbour agreement, web firms could seek a certification that they follow certain minimum rules of consumer protection and privacy.

ECONOMIST: Stop signs on the web

These gave the legal protection necessary when processing personal data belonging to EU citizens: A prerequisite when providing Web-based services to the European market.

FORBES: Cloud Computing: Challenge For Financial Firms?

Jim Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), said young people must learn how to stay safe on the web.

BBC: Children at risk of web predators

Some Web-based e-mail services like Google's Gmail offer tools to add an extra layer of protection.

CNN: Bush email hacking a wake up call