Privacy and Anonymity on the Internet

On the internet, it can be tempting to view yourself as an anonymous browser, but increasingly the public is becoming aware of just how untrue that is. A study by the Electronic Privacy Information Center surveyed the 100 most frequently visited sites on the internet; of those 100 none met the basic privacy standards established by EPIC and only 17 had any privacy terms at all. In a medium with so little protection and so much information available, children are particularly vulnerable.

Consider whether consumers on the internet truly make informed decisions regarding their privacy. The Terms of Use of Facebook for example - have you ever really read them all the way through? What about Harvard Law School's privacy terms for our email or administrative boards? Does the average user read and understand those terms? Some technological projects like the Drumbeat Privacy Icons project are working on new ways to inform users about the privacy regulations of the sites they visit. (Drumbeat is looking for proposals on how to develop a system of "privacy icons" that could easily label websites according to the degree of privacy retained by the user.) And there are also technological businesses and solutions such as ReputationDefender, but are these enough to address the issue?

Unlike snail mail, your email can be readily surveilled by government officials without a warrant because courts have held that there is no expectation of privacy on the internet.

Is this true? How much is changed by new platforms for social interaction that are based on unprecedented standards of privacy, such as PatientsLikeMe?