What problems doesn P3P solve?
P3P actually covers only a very specific part of the online interaction: the transmittal of privacy practices to a user, and the comparison of these to the user’s preferences. P3P does not increase the security of Internet transactions. It does not make it safe to send credit card numbers over the Net. It doesn’t protect consumers from Internet eaves-dropping that gleans passwords and consumer data as it travels over the network. Security must be provided by other software such as the Web browser. It does not provide any enforcement of the privacy practices that are promised by the Web sites, nor does it give individuals any information about the trustworthiness of the site they are visiting. It does not address whether information gathered on the Net will be combined with information gathered elsewhere to create a more detailed profile of the user. It does not reduce the amount of personal data that is gathered from Internet users and it is not intended to do so.
