Once completed, Lumeria's SuperProfile system will exceed the standards
of privacy espoused by the Federal Trade Commission and European Union.
In fact, our data handling techniques will be modeled after a bank because
we feel an individual's personal data is as valuable as money. The SuperProfile
system enables the individual to experience:
- a personalized computing environment;
- customized content;
- targeted marketing;
- help in connecting with relevant information and with other people;
- a "spam" management strategy;
- parental control over the use of their children's profiles.
The SuperProfile system will protect an individual's privacy by hiding
the details of their activities and using it to generate a profile that
can be provided to marketers and merchants. However, Lumeria is anxious
to provide specific tools within the SuperProfile system as they become
available. Unfortunately, before a complete system can be implemented, these
individual tools may not meet the exacting standards we have laid out for
our SuperProfile system. Nonetheless, they will probably exceed the precautions
that most companies currently undertake.
For this reason, Lumeria will focus on the first two principles: notice
and choice. Our privacy policy will fully describe our data handling techniques
and highlight potential deficiencies. We will clearly warn the individual
of the risks involved and let the individual decide whether the benefit
from the tool exceeds the potential costs.
SuperOptOut
The first tool that illustrates this issue is the SuperOptOut program,
which is designed to help individuals remove their names from existing direct
marketing databases. This program also includes an opportunity to "opt-in"
to advertisements from which individuals will profit from the use of their
personal data by direct marketers. Although both programs will meet most
of the Fair Information Principles, there may be some deficiencies (such
as the Integrity/Security principle). These issues will be fully disclosed
to the individual before she is asked to participate. Then, once informed,
she will be given the choice to participate or defer until development of
the SuperProfile system is finished. For more information about this program,
please see our web site at http://www.SuperProfile.com.