The "dangerous" cookie is no more than a small, harmless strand of data your computer is given when you visit some websites. Only the issuers can read the cookie and it allows them to tailor the content to your needs. If you call a second page or return to the site later it will remember you. By forcing sites to demand constantly that their web users reaffirm "explicit prior consent" for each and every type of cookie delivered we will all be subjected to waves of interrupting messages and error screens. Confused users will switch off and new users will be frustrated that so many sites no longer work. It would only have been a positive move for personal privacy if browsers did not already have easy-to-use privacy management tools built in.

The biggest business opportunity between now and the year 2005 will be the creation of the privacy management business. Just as TRW went from a company that created automobile parts and defense contracting work to a company that was a credit management business. The same thing will happen with privacy.