A method, computer program product, and data processing system for circumventing profiling and targeting of World Wide Web users is disclosed. A number of fictitious web "personae" are established. A user wishing to perform a particular web transaction assumes a persona that best fits the user's current needs. The user's actions are then attributed to the persona, rather than the user. When the user wishes to perform another transaction, a different persona may be assumed, depending upon the circumstances, so that any disadvantage attributable to performing the same web transaction multiple times may be eliminated. This has the dual advantage of both protecting the user's privacy and taking advantage of special offers and incentives that may be targeted to first-time customers.