The problem is that most sites' "privacy policy" is squishy. Even if they guarantee they won't give out "private information" to anybody, they are free to defin

The problem is that most sites' "privacy policy" is squishy. Even if they guarantee they won't give out "private information" to anybody, they are free to define what information they consider "private." (For example, some web email providers do not consider your email address to be private information. Go figure!) I suspect we will need laws that establish a clear baseline for what does and does not constitute "private information," and what services must offer in the way of protecting that information. This is one place where the free market will not be incented to fix the problem on their own, and cannot be trusted to do so.