IT contractors should be aware that respect for privacy is the "fundamental yardstick" that web users are holding online service providers against.

According to Jac sm Kee, womens' rights and information and communications technologies project co-ordinator at the Association for Progressive Communications, integrity is essential for any online firm.

Companies such as Google and Facebook have recently shown what reports of privacy breaches can do to a firms' reputation, Ms Kee says.

Yet any potential problem could be even more damaging for a firm with a much smaller customer base.

"Confidence by their users in their corporate integrity is also important to make sure that they continue to be important players in this field," he said.

Google collected samples of payload data from open Wi-Fi networks through some of its Street Cars working on Google maps data collection.

The company went public with the information, admitting it had collected the information by mistake and was sorry for the error.