Privacy Planning Underway in All Sectors But Many Companies Lag Behind

About one-third of all organizations have implemented a formal privacy plan, according to the 12th annual Information Systems and E-Business Spending study conducted by Computer Economics. Meanwhile 23.5 percent of organizations have not started developing their privacy plan.

The status of privacy planning varies considerably across sectors. In the insurance industry 45.8 percent of companies have a formal privacy plan in place, while only 23.8 percent of professional services firms have a formal privacy plan in place.

During 2001 another 12.6 percent of organizations will formalize their privacy policies and plans, and by the end of 2002 over 50 percent of all organizations will have formalized a privacy policy," said Michael Erbschloe, vice president of research at Computer Economics and co-author of Net Privacy: A guide to developing & implementing an ironclad ebusiness privacy plan.

Overall things look good on the privacy planning front," said Erbschloe. It is, however, rather alarming that there are so many organizations that have not started to formally address the need for managing privacy."

Developing a solid privacy policy and translating that policy into operational procedures to assure that privacy is properly managed is a complex and lengthy task. Erbschloes new book, Net Privacy, is a step-by-step guide to developing and implementing privacy plans.

Computer Economics is an independent research firm specializing in helping business decision-makers plan, manage, and control technology costs through advisory services, analyst support, and innovative advisory Web sites. Based in Carlsbad, California, Computer Economics serves 82 percent of the Fortune 500.

Contact: Beverly Waite - Computer Economics, Inc.
Phone: 760-438-8100, ext.132
E-mail: bwaite@compecon.com