[Times art: Octavio Perez] Part One Keeping an eye on a moving target Fast forward to the state of privacy in 2015. Banks’ privacy protection alerts easy to miss By law, every institution must give customers the right to “opt out” of having certain information shared. But mailed privacy statements often are overlooked or hard to read. How secure are your medical records? The hemorrhaging of supposedly private health data has grown serious enough to inspire government curbs. Opt in or opt-out: The Debate continues It sounds like a distinction only a lawyer could love. But it has become a crucial issue in debates over protecting the privacy of personal information. Privacy by the numbers 10 ways your privacy is being redefined Part Two Privacy vs. convenience Computer users enjoy free things on the Web because advertising pays the way, marketers say. And if they want the free ride to continue, companies need data to make their advertising effective. Privacy groups say that's hogwash. Sites for privacy Here are Web sites of some of the organizations involved in the privacy debate: A lot of talk, no action expected in Washington WASHINGTON -- Rep. Cliff Stearns has made online privacy the No. 1 priority of the Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection subcommittee he heads. The Ocala Republican has held four hearings on the subject and hopes to have a bill to protect consumers drafted by June. Cracking the cookie Cookies let you set up personalized home pages on sites such as Yahoo or MSN.com. And cookies can reveal more information about you than you realize. But there are ways to control them. Trail of crumbs An Internet cookie is not a sweet treat, but its origin provides a tidbit of techie trivia. The term "cookies" comes from the UNIX operating system developed in the 1970s. UNIX used the nickname "magic cookies" for identifying files that attached themselves to users or programs as they entered different areas of a system. Netscape was the first Internet browser to use the technology. Privacy: By the numbers