The Internet is a media where every keystroke can be captured, analyzed, stored, and sold. Unlike someone buying a book for cash, being anonymous online is both difficult and unlikely.

Privacy has been described by Justice Louis Brandeis in OLMSTEAD v. U.S as "the right to be let alone -- the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men." But privacy on the Web is an endangered concept, something which should not be taken for granted.

For site owners, the issue of privacy has two elements. On one side, owners have a clear right to develop client lists, assets with known and accepted market values. On the other side, the nature of the Internet requires that users clearly understand when their names are being harvested.

For example, under what circumstances -- if any -- is it acceptable to capture information from children? If a site has a mortgage calculator or a nice form to help determine your net worth, who gets the keep the information you entered?

To clarify these issues, many sites now post notices regarding privacy and related matters. In general terms, such notices have three elements:

• Privacy Notices: Statements outlining site policies concerning the gathering of names, screen IDs, and other information.

• Terms of Service: By visiting a site the user accepts certain stipulations. For example, a user might effectively agree not to copy site content for commercial use.

• Disclaimers: Statements by site owners announcing they cannot be responsible for given matters. For instance, links from the site may connect to other sites and those sites may have links which ultimately reach sites that include "adult" material.

Online notices concern a variety of issues, and in a changing regulatory climate they are one aspect of Web development which should be reviewed by legal counsel before posting.