NebuAd Faces Lawsuit on User Consent Issue

A lawsuit has been filed against behavioral targeting firm NebuAd and six Internet service providers (ISPs) who tested its platform, in an attempt to force the company to obtain users' express consent prior to monitoring their web surfing activity.

The action - which was brought by 15 web users in the Federal District Court in San Jose, California - claims that NebuAd's technology violates web users' privacy. The specific complaint is that the company bought information about subscribers' online activity from the ISPs - Bresnan Communications, Cable One, CenturyTel, Embarq, Knology and WOW - and used the data to send the users targeted advertising.

NebuAd and the ISPs are alleged to have committed illegal privacy and computer security breaches against these users.

The claim says the data provided was sensitive and included financial and other private data complete with all personally identifying information. The claim cites breaches of two federal laws (the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) and two Californian state laws (the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the Computer Crime Law).

In June, cable operator Charter Communications postponed plans to capture detailed information about the activities of its Internet subscribers and share it with NebuAd.

Subsequently, NebuAd came under fire during a hearing in which politicians suggested that online consumer behaviour tracking was only acceptable with prior opt-in consent. At the time CEO Bob Dykes said his firm was working on a system to notify users about tracking with messages sent to their browsers.

In the meantime, the company said it was going to refrain from behavioral targeting based on data provided by ISPs, but prior to making that decision, NebuAd tested its platform with the six ISPs named as defendants in the lawsuit.

'It could be a landmark case,' said Attorney Bennet Kelley, Founder of the Internet Law Center in Santa Monica, California and former Privacy Director at ValueClick. 'The plaintiffs are trying to draw the line much further to favor the consumers than the industry and even the consensus might dictate.'

Web site: www.nebuad.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.