US: Senate Committee to examine monitoring of Internet users by advertisers

A US Senate Committee entitled, Privacy Implications of Online Advertising, is scheduled to debate the monitoring and tracking of Internet users activity by advertisers, and will examine whether this activity is a violation of federal law.

In announcing the debate, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation wrote on its website: "There is concern that tracking individuals' Internet activity and gathering information from online users violates their expectations of privacy. Individuals often are unaware what information is being collected about them, how it is being used and to whom it is disseminated."

The key issue for discussion is the proposed tools used by ISPs to track Website usage and the sale of that information to advertisers. Web sites have previously entered into agreements with advertisers to use 'cookies' to track individual users to enable them to create profiles and this create targeted advertising.

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has said that it is possible that the use of Internet traffic content by advertisers from ISPs may "run afoul of federal wiretap laws", unless it is approved by the individual Internet user.

The committee is certainly calling in the heavyweights from the industry for the debate, including Leslie Harris, president and CEO of the CDT, NebuAd Chairman and CEO Bob Dykes, along with executives from Google, FaceBook, and Microsoft.

If the Committee does conclude that the activity is a violation of federal law, NebuAd has developed a means to offer consumers "direct, initial online notification and periodic reminders" as a solution. The company has also reported that it is developing a network-based opt-out mechanism that is not reliant on Web browser cookies.

Source: ChannelWeb