P3P
The Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) is an obsolete protocol allowing websites to declare their intended use of information they collect about web browser users.
Designed to give users more control of their personal information when browsing, P3P was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and officially recommended on April 16, 2002.
[5] As the World Wide Web became a genuine medium in which to sell products and services, electronic commerce websites tried to collect more information about the people who purchased their merchandise.
A dummy /w3c/p3p.xml file could use this feature: Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Edge [Legacy] were the only mainstream web browsers that supported P3P.
However, the P3P functionality in Internet Explorer extends only to cookie blocking, and will not alert the user to an entire web site that violates active privacy preferences.
P3P allows browsers to understand their privacy policies in a simplified and organized manner rather than searching throughout the entire website.
Additionally, the W3C explains that P3P will allow browsers to transfer user data to services, ultimately promoting an online sharing community.
Additionally, the P3P Toolbox[11] developed by the Internet Education Foundation recommends that anyone who is concerned about increasing their users’ trust and privacy should consider implementing P3P.
Moreover, all this data is misused and we as consumers pay the price and become worrisome of issues such as: junk mail, identity theft and forms of discrimination; therefore implementing P3P's protocol is good and beneficial for web browsers.
Though by using P3P a company/website makes a promise of privacy and of the use of gathered data to the site’s users, there are no real legal ramifications if the company decides to use the information for other functions.
[13] The agreement to use P3P not only puts in place unenforceable promises, but it also prolongs the adoption of federal laws that would actually inhibit the access and ability to use private information.
According to the Chairman of the FTC,[16] privacy laws are key in today’s society in order to protect the consumer from providing too much personal information for others’ benefit.
Michael Kaply from IBM is reported saying the following when the Mozilla Foundation was considering the removal of P3P support from their browser-line in 2004:[17] Ah the memories.
Live Leer, a PR manager for Opera Software, explained in 2001 the deliberate lack of P3P support in their browser:[18] At the moment, we aren't sure whether P3P is the best solution.
The main alternative to P3P may not be these technologies, but instead stronger laws to regulate what kind of information from Internet users can be collected and retained by websites.
Various principles are included within the act, such as the rule that individual has the right to retrieve the data collected about them at any time under certain conditions.
However, there are some sectoral laws at the federal and state level that offer some protection for certain types of information collected about individuals.
