FTC Proposes Do Not Track List For Web Marketing

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FTC Proposes Do Not Track List For Web Marketing

Published December 01, 2010

| Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are proposing to create a " Do Not Track " tool

for the Internet so that U.S. consumers could prevent marketers from tracking

their Web browsing habits and other behavior in order to target advertising.

The proposal, inspired by the government's existing " Do Not Call " registry for

telemarketers, is among the recommendations outlined in a privacy report

released Wednesday by the Federal Trade Commission. The report lays out a broad

framework for protecting consumer privacy both online and offline as personal

data collection becomes ubiquitous -- often without consumer knowledge.

The FTC hopes the report will help guide the marketing industry as it develops

self-regulatory principles to define acceptable corporate behavior. The FTC also

is trying to influence lawmakers and other policymakers as they draft new rules

of the road to protect privacy. The agency has limited authority to write those

rules itself, so new regulations would likely require congressional action.

Protecting consumer privacy, the agency says, is critical since marketers --

particularly online marketers -- are increasingly analyzing the websites that

consumers visit, the links they click, Internet searches, online and offline

purchases, the physical locations of wireless devices and all sorts of personal

information disclosed on social networking sites.

So far, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said Wednesday, the marketing industry has

not done nearly enough to ensure that consumers understand what personal

information is being collected about them or to give them adequate control over

that data collection.

The agency envisions a Do Not Track tool as one important way to let consumers

decline, or " opt out " of, much of the tracking that occurs online -- a practice

the industry calls behavioral advertising. The tool would most likely take the

form of a browser setting that would apply across the board as consumers jump

from site to site. It would clearly inform sites when tracking and targeted

advertising are off limits for a particular browser.

The concept is loosely based on the FTC's National Do Not Call Registry, which

was launched in 2003 and has been widely credited for allowing Americans to eat

their suppers in peace. More than 190 million people have listed their phones on

the registry, which prohibits calls from telemarketers. Violating the registry

subjects telemarketers to civil penalties up to $16,000 per violation.

Leibowitz, who first floated the idea of Do Not Track last summer, said that

although the technology has not yet been widely deployed for consumers, browser

companies are experimenting with it. And lawmakers do appear interested in the

concept. Bobby Rush, chairman of the House Commerce subcommittee that deals with

consumer protection issues, will hold a hearing on potential Do Not Track

legislation on Thursday.

The new FTC report comes at time of mounting concern about Internet privacy in

both Washington and Europe.

The National Information and Telecommunications Administration, part of the

Commerce Department, is also preparing a report on the issue. And the Obama

administration's Office of Science Technology Policy has created a new group to

develop broad principles on online privacy to guide legislative action and

regulatory policy.

Meanwhile, last month the European Union said it plans to update its privacy

regulations to give consumers more control over online tracking.