About Privacytown

Welcome to Privacytown - the Office of Consumer Affairs' on-line map to the privacy challenges and pitfalls of today's information age.

Feel free to take a stroll down main street, visit the shops and businesses, tour the hospital or stop by the home of a friend. It's the ideal way to learn about the privacy concerns that confront you in everyday life - and what you can do about them.

You see, Privacytown is just like your own community. You know the areas of your town to avoid at night, the safety practices that will help keep you out of trouble, and how to get help when you need it. But in today's knowledge-based economy, you also need to understand how to avoid threats to your privacy, and discover what steps you can take when your privacy has been invaded. Privacytown will help you do just that.

Of course, when you visit any new town, it always helps to have a guidebook to get you started. So we've put together a quick look at how to navigate through Privacytown.

Simply select the place you want to visit and voilà, there you are. Once you have entered a specific place - we call it a locale - take a look at the items in the "Did You Know" box to find out the privacy issues that can arise in that locale. Clicking on one will take you to a more detailed discussion of the issue.

This concludes your introduction to Privacytown. Enjoy your stay. And hey! Let's be careful out there.