Privacy Article Sparks House Enquiry

In the US, leading online firms including AOL, Yahoo!, MySpace and MSN are under pressure from two senior politicians to reveal details of their privacy practices, including installation of cookies on visitors' computers, and other tracking activity.

Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas), Co-Chairmen of the Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus of the House of Representatives, wrote to the firms (http://markey.house.gov/docs/letter_-_edge_providers_-_comcast_-_8-5-10.pdf ) expressing concern following a recent article in the Wall Street Journal reporting that the top 50 US Web sites installed an average of 64 pieces of tracking technology onto a visitor's computer. The letter says the article raises 'important and disturbing questions about the nature, scope and prevalence of Internet companies' use of consumers' personal information gleaned from their online activities, reportedly without consumers' knowledge or consent', and that in effect 'one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet is the business of spying on Internet users'.

Specifically, the letter mentions the increasingly detailed information collected and the subsequent difficulty of maintaining anonymity; the monetization of of such data over the last twelve months; and the partner ad and analytics companies that have access to data; and the notification of visitors as to what is done with data.

The other eleven recipients of the letter, which requests a reply by 12 August, were Dictionary.com, Comcast, Merriam-Webster, Photobucket, Answers.com, MSNBC, Live.com, Verizon Wireless, Yp.com and About.com.

Online privacy is much in the spotlight at present in the US: the FTC appears to have re-opened its consideration of the idea of an online 'Do Not Track' option for consumers, along the lines of existing Do Not Call legislation, while the IAB has entered the lists to fight legislative proposals which it says 'jeopardize the Internet and ...interactive advertising'.

The two houses of the US government are online at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov .