Score one for the privacy protectors, who were appalled by Intel's latest ploy to include a trackable serial number in every Pentium III. Such a scheme would allow e-commerce sites to verify one's identification, sure, but it would also allow the collection and sharing of every user's browsing history, for instance. Imagine that you have a Pentium III system (we know, we know-- but just pretend, for crying out Pete's sake) and you enter a contest at some site. You enter your name, address, phone number, email address-- all that fun stuff. And the server also takes down your Pentium III's serial number. Now let's just say that the site in question isn't too respectful of personal privacy, and decides to share that information with other sites for "a modest fee." Then those sites turn around and share the info with their friends, etc. The ensuing chain reaction eventually might mean that lots of sites not only have your personal information, but they know your computer's ID, so as soon as you connect, they know who you are. Suddenly anonymity is dead, and sites can track who you are and what you do on the Internet, without your knowledge or consent. Really, it's not a very far-fetched scenario.

That's why several privacy groups began organizing Intel boycotts. According to InfoWorld Electric, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy International, and Junkbusters banded together to fight the Pentium III ID scheme by proposing that prospective customers refuse to buy Intel chips until the privacy issue is resolved. And it didn't take long for Intel to sit up and take notice: a subsequent article notes that Intel has agreed to ship their Pentium III's with the ID number scheme switched off by default. (Originally their plan was to have the tracking function on, and end-users would have to deactivate it manually each and every time they booted their system.) However, it's not certain that the coalition of privacy watchdogs will find this arrangement satisfactory-- though it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Intel is scheduled to meet with the privacy folks again on Thursday, though we're doubtful that any concessions will be made beyond the decision to ship the processors with the ID numbering deactivated. The real danger, of course, is that the chip-numbering scheme turns into an industry standard-- at which point Mac users might have to worry about their G4's, as well. We're not all that worried, though; the sheer amount of noise the ID proposal has raised is probably a good indication to chip makers and e-commerce sites alike that people value their privacy more than being able to buy a sweater over the Internet.