Pics and P3p

P3P AND PICS

The growth of the web has been phenomenal and the volume and nature of the information that is available to view is very diverse. One aspect that has seemingly been overlooked throughout this growth process is that there is at least one thing that is even more diverse than the web; which is the user accessing it. Seemingly the term user leaves one with a sense of separation from what the user actually is. A user is a person with a specific set of demographics. We live in a world of various cultures, values and belief structures that determine what a person finds acceptable or unacceptable. These differences should not be judged nor censored but respected and embraced. The Internet simply does not meet these requirements. A frequent argument from users of the web is to offer resources to be accessed based on their content, but allowing the user to determine what is acceptable based on personal choice. Another consideration haunting the Internet is privacy concerns. These concerns are the number one obstacle impeding ecommerce because consumers are not comfortable surfing the Internet and purchasing goods and services online. Filtering, based on personal preferences, is one solution that may allow freedom to access the Internet without the fear of accessing offensive material or allowing others to access the user’s personal information. These filters for browsing must be a personal choice, allowing each individual to determine what they are comfortable with and what they deem inappropriate.

The Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) is a set of technical specifications that helps software and rating services work together. The specification consists of two parts; a specification for the protocols to be used by a rating service and a specification for label formats. PICS facilitates rating continuity so that ratings from any source will work with all filtering software. The criteria for rating are chosen by the rating and labeling service. It enables labels to be associated with Internet content. It was originally developed to control what children can access on the Internet but it also facilitates other uses for labels such as code signing and privacy.

Filtering rules allow or block access to Web sites which are expressed in the language PICSRules. These rules were created to allow sharing and installation of profiles. Because Organizations can create recommended profiles based on demographics it makes it easier for them to create the template rather than the user wading through the profiles trying to create one from scratch. They also standardize communication to agents, search engines, proxies and servers to enable them to return content based on the user’s profile. Lastly, portability was a concern and the ability to filter between products using the same profile.

In theory PICS is a great idea but in practice it isn’t perfect and will not be unless all sites are rated. The possibility of an entity rating each and every site on the Internet would be almost nonexistent. The consequence of not rating all sites is that the user or software developer is faced with a dilemma. A choice would have to be made on whether to allow all unrated sites or to block them. Of course this is not a viable option so another option is to scan the site with string-recognition software but this system is not infallible because of the nature of text.

The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) is a protocol developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that was officially recommended for use on April 16, 2002. It allows Web sites to state a privacy policy that declares their intent regarding use of personal information they collect from those browsing their site. It is designed to allow users to have more precise control over what personal information they are comfortable releasing and what they want kept secure.

One of the main reasons for the development of this standard is that when a Web site is visited, the owner of the Web site is given certain information about the user. Some of the information that is given includes: which browser is in use, which pages on the site are visited and for how long as well as the Web site the user last visited. A Web