P3P Purpose Definitions

P3P defines a number of data use purposes. The following are the definitions of those purposes, taken directly from the P3P specification.

Completion and support of the current activity (<current/>)
Information may be used by the service provider to complete the activity for which it was provided, whether a one-time activity such as returning the results from a Web search, forwarding an email message, or placing an order; or a recurring activity such as providing a subscription service, or allowing access to an online address book or electronic wallet.
Web site and system administration (<admin/>)
Information may be used for the technical support of the Web site and its computer system. This would include processing computer account information, information used in the course of securing and maintaining the site, and verification of Web site activity by the site or its agents.
Research and development (<develop/>)
Information may be used to enhance, evaluate, or otherwise review the site, service, product, or market. This does not include personal information used to tailor or modify the content to the specific individual nor information used to evaluate, target, profile or contact the individual.
One-time tailoring (<tailoring/>)
Information may be used to tailor or modify content or design of the site where the information is used only for a single visit to the site and not used for any kind of future customization. For example, an online store that suggests other items a visitor may wish to purchase based on the items he has already placed in his shopping basket.
Pseudonymous analysis of user behavior (<pseudo-analysis/>)
Information may be used to create or build a record of a particular individual or computer that is tied to a pseudonymous identifier, without tying identified data (such as name, address, phone number, or email address) to the record. This profile will be used to determine the habits, interests, or other characteristics of individuals for purpose of research, analysis and reporting, but it will not be used to attempt to identify specific individuals. For example, a marketer may wish to understand the interests of visitors to different portions of a Web site.
Pseudonymous decision-making (<pseudo-decision/>)
Information may be used to create or build a record of a particular individual or computer that is tied to a pseudonymous identifier, without tying identified data (such as name, address, phone number, or email address) to the record. This profile will be used to determine the habits, interests, or other characteristics of individuals to make a decision that directly affects that individual, but it will not be used to attempt to identify specific individuals. For example, a marketer may tailor or modify content displayed to the browser based on pages viewed during previous visits.
Individual user analysis (<individual-analysis/>)
Information may be used to determine the habits, interests, or other characteristics of individuals and combine it with identified data for the purpose of research, analysis and reporting. For example, an online Web site for a physical store may wish to analyze how online shoppers make offline purchases.
Individualized decision-making (<individual-decision/>)
Information may be used to determine the habits, interests, or other characteristics of individuals and combine it with identified data to make a decision that directly affects that individual.  For example, an online store suggests items a visitor may wish to purchase based on items he has purchased during previous visits to the Web site.
Contacting visitors for marketing (<contact/>)
Information may be used to contact the individual, through a communications channel other than voice telephone, for the promotion of a product or service. This includes notifying visitors about updates to the Web site. This does not include a direct reply to a question or comment or customer service for a single transaction -- in those cases, <current/> would be used. In addition, this does not include marketing via customized Web content or banner advertisements embedded in sites the user is visiting -- these cases would be covered by the <tailoring/>, <pseudo-analysis/> and <pseudo-decision/>, or <individual-analysis/> and <individual-decision/> purposes.
Historical preservation (<historical/>)
Information may be archived or stored for the purpose of preserving social history as governed by an existing law or policy. This law or policy MUST be referenced in the <DISPUTES> element and MUST include a specific definition of the type of qualified researcher who can access the information, where this information will be stored and specifically how this collection advances the preservation of history.
Contacting visitors for marketing by telephone (<telemarketing/>)
Information may be used to contact the individual via a voice telephone call for promotion of a product or service. This does not include a direct reply to a question or comment or customer service for a single transaction -- in those cases, <current/> would be used.
Other purposes (<other-purpose/>)
Information may be used in other ways not captured by the above definitions.