IBM appoints chief privacy officer

NEW YORK: Computer giant International Business Machines Corp. on Wednesday

named Harriet Pearson as its first chief privacy officer in a bid to strengthen

the company's role in consumer privacy protection.

The Armonk, NY-based company said that Pearson will bring together IBM's

privacy and programs, including research and development, marketing, sales,

IBM's Web strategy, and technology and policy efforts.

She will also coordinate the development of IBM technology and services

offerings for privacy and will ensure that the company complies with laws and

standards as consumer privacy guidelines evolve.

The move comes amid growing concerns that electronic commerce will fail to

get off the ground on privacy fears because consumers are yet to feel safe about

giving out personal data online.

"We know that one of the great conundrums of e-business is that it gives

enterprises a powerful new capability to capture and analyze massive amounts of

customer information so they can serve individual customers more

effectively," said IBM chief executive officer Louis V Gerstner in a

statement.

"Yet this very capability troubles some people, who see it as a means to

disclose or exploit their personal information. These are legitimate and very

real concerns, and they must be addressed if the world of e-business is to reach

its full potential."

A recent report by the University of California at Los Angeles said that

almost two-thirds of US Internet users and more than three-quarters of non-users

say going online is a threat to privacy.

A whopping 97.8 per cent of Internet users who have not purchased online

expressed some concern about security of credit card information, according to

the report. And more than nine out of 10 Internet users are "somewhat or

very concerned" about credit card security, the study said.

IBM said that Pearson has directed IBM's involvement in several areas of

public policy, including privacy, healthcare and consumer protection.

She also chairs the Privacy Committee of the Information Technology Industry

Council and serves on the board of the Internet Education Foundation.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.