Yesterday, Microsoft published a new essay in its "On the Issues" report.  The issue at hand in this essay is privacy:

On the legal front, we at Microsoft believe the United States needs an all-inclusive, uniform privacy law that will give consumers more control over their personal data and more reason for confidence in providing information to legitimate businesses and other organizations. With the flow of information becoming increasingly global, we also see a growing need to align U.S. law with current and emerging privacy standards in the rest of the world.  […]  We urge Congress to act on comprehensive privacy legislation this year. Action is needed to keep America at the forefront of the amazing changes and great benefits still to come, as technology continues to advance.

Ignore, for a moment, your urge to make comments or references to Microsoft's contribution to breaches of privacy and personal information.  Microsoft has partnered with eBay, HP, and the Center for Democracy & Technology in support of a country-wide privacy law that will, among other things, impose a more strict rubric of regulations dealing with the collection, sharing, and use of consumer information.

If you collect personal information on your website, even in the form of names/email addresses for newsletters or mailings, it's in your best interest to be proactive about privacy issues.  If you run a business that collects more detailed information about customers, a clearly worded and easily located privacy policy is a must.

People are doing more, saying more, and sharing more personal information online these days than ever before.  Security breaches and explicit abuses have already exposed countless amounts of personal information over the years.  And each time that happens more and more people become weary of providing that information.

It's only a matter of time before a massive, global breach of privacy occurs.  Think of all the information social networks, search engines, banks, and credit card companies store on Internet-connected servers and computers.  There's no question about if such a breach will happen.  It's a question of when.  When that happens… watch out.  We're talking about a major backlash.

In being up front about the exact uses, storage, and sharing of personal information that your company or website collects, you can not only help ease the minds of privacy-conscious customers, but you can also defend yourself against any future claims that might arise from such a backlash.

Consumer trust is a major driving force in commerce (both traditional commerce and the e- variety).  Don't give your customers any reason to doubt you or your website:  bring your privacy policy front and center.