First, if online suppliers, merchants and publishers want to avoid privacy edicts, they need to state up front that customer information will be shared only with explicit permission. This "permission marketing" statement must be contractually binding and displayed on the home page--not relegated to some buried Trust-e statement. And it needs to be backed up with a painfully detailed description of how the site protects, stores and shares information.

Intel recently took a step in the right direction when it set out requirements that all its "Intel Inside" online advertising partners seek customer permission before sharing information. But there's still too much wiggle room in the Online Privacy Alliance guidelines mandated by Intel. Exceptions don't work. It doesn't take a genius to know that rules are defined by their loopholes.

If online merchants and suppliers want any real hope of nipping U.S. privacy legislation in the bud they need to address the darker fears we all have about sharing our every corporate action and personal whim.

Second, if it's true that about 80 percent of online businesses have a brick-and-mortar presence, it's time to afford online customers mainstream-styled respect. While there's a huge rush to stem the bloodletting caused by online competition, traditional businesses risk customer loyalty if they fail to put the full weight of their reputation behind their online presence. It makes sense to follow a few basic rules: