Some starting points from JEPI

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-demographics/msg00002.html

> Some starting points from JEPI
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>    * To: www-demographics@w3.org
>    * Subject: Some starting points from JEPI
>    * From: Rohit Khare <khare@pest.w3.org>
>    * Date: Fri, 16 Feb 96 14:31:59 -0500
>    * From khare@pest.w3.org Fri Feb 16 14: 30:40 1996
>    * Reply-To: khare@w3.org
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> In our e-commerce work, we outlined a demographics facility that might be
> integral to the shopping experience. Here were some of my comments:
> 

Whose comments are these?
> >  ...
> >  2) Automated Form Fill-In
> >
> >  As an aid to e-Commerce and payment-support, we could
> >  provide automatic hooks in the browser to fill-in name,
> >  shipping address, etc.  We managed to pull this out of
> >  discussions of payment protocols by citing the approach
> >  noted by Dan Connolly and myself: designate a set of
> >  field-names that can be defaulted by configuring a client.
> >
> >  Thus, any FORM with a text field named (say)
> >  http://pep.w3.org/AutoFill/FName could have a default
> >  value supplied automatically by the user's browser.  This
> >  can be implemented completely by browsers.  We should
> >  suggest this to the HTML ERB.

This concept is on target. We see the repeated requests for demographic 
information to be a greater impediment to commerce than concerns about 
privacy. Any implementation of this should of course give the user the 
option of screening the requests for demographic info or for specific 
fields of information.

Ideally the list of fields would be dynamically extensible by the 
server. If the server asks for a field not already in the user's 
client profile, the user is queried for the information, with the 
option to alias it to an existing field or ignore it. 

> >
> >  3) Demographic Profiling
> >
> >  XXX, in particular, identifies a need to know a few things
> >  about the customer almost before shopping even starts,
> >  in order to filter products not available, calculate
> >  local currency prices, etc.  They are driven by actual
> >  customer concerns; but the details of what should go into
> >  this information is unresolved.
> >
> >  Protocol Name: http://pep.w3.org/Profile
> >
> >  Standard Parameters: {age int}
> >                       {residence country-code state-code}
> >                       {delivery  country-code state-code}
> >                       etc.
> >
> >  We might consider adding parameters for use when
> >  requesting a profile:
> >     {policy
> >      http://pep.w3.org/Profile/WillNotRedistribute.html}

The pep.w3.org host doesn't show up from here, so cannot see the 
examples.

> >
> >  Rohit is extremely skeptical about creating this protocol;
> >  it has the "build it and they will come" risk: just using
> >  it will make it the default demographic-disclosure
> >  protocol for many other uses.  It should be tied to
> >  developments in the Demographics area. In particular
> >  advertisers have expressed interest in standardizing
> >  things like the policy parameter alluded to above.
> >
> >  It seems logical that parameter included here should only
> >  be those that can't (easily) be used to identify an
> >  individual.  Individual identification is better done by
> >  the default form filling stuff in 2) above.
> >  ...
> 
> Reactions?
> 
> Rohit Khare

Two points:
1. The user should have control of what info does and does not go out, 
down to the field level. In other words, the user may not care about 
idnetifying gender but care very much about age. So he/she is never 
asked about gender, because the brower takes care of it. But he/she is 
queried about age each time it is requested, or alternately, at the 
user's specification the request is routinely refused.

2. The user's decision to share or withhold demographic information 
should be as easy and transparent as possible.


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James Calloway, General Manager    http://www.nando.net
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Received on Thursday, 29 February 1996 14:28:33 UTC