personal information privacy

Am sure most of us have heard of this initiative EARTH HOUR - which speaks about everyone coming together to switch off our lights.


Am not really keen on discussing the initiative or its implications or how successful this would be in reality - my concern is towards the value, we as internet users, give to our personal information. This emerges from the fact that numerous sites on the internet request our personal information (ranging from items as trivial as your nickname, to items as critical as your credit card number.) for being able to access all sections of the site or utilizing services offered. The issue is not with who collects information or what information is collected - the issue is with what is being done with this information.

So imagine this - you really want to be a part of a 'good, social initiative'. You register yourself and in the process providing your personal details. This information, which now resides in some server in some corner of the world, is accessible by a lot of people who definitely have nothing to do other than manage it. But then, you cannot control or stop them from accessing it and doing whatever they want with it. The worst part is that all this is done without your knowledge / control.

The solution clearly is not in prohibiting websites from collecting information. How can such an issue be tackled?