• Wired, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 10:15 AM

Internet companies are collecting an unprecedented amount of information about who consumes their content and services. And while raises privacy concerns for many users, few are willing to spend money to do anything about it. In fact, a recent Carnegie Mellon/UC-Berkeley study suggests that consumers aren't even willing to pay 25 cents to protect sensitive information. "People prefer money over data, always," said one CMU official.

Nevertheless, the market is being flooded by privacy protection tools from Web giants like Ask.com and Microsoft--two of the biggest collectors of consumer data--to startups like ReputationDefender and MyPrivacy. Even Google and Yahoo have recently taken measures to lessen the amount of time they retain IP addresses and search logs.

Privacy is the latest trend in consumer control. ReputationDefender, for example, is a subscription service that allows users to manage what people say about them online. For $5 per month, MyPrivacy lets users keep their information off sites, like Yahoo People Search, 411.com and WhitePages.com. However, studies show that privacy is one of those things that Netizens just don't want to pay for. Expect this trend to fizzle.

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