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More Scrutiny for Online Ad Targeting
US lawmakers are turning the spotlight on the behavioural targeting of Internet ads. While the FTC receives comments on its proposed guidelines, New York assemblyman Richard Brodsky has sponsored a bill placing limits on companies' targeting activity.
The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates national advertising, has proposed voluntary privacy guidelines and is receiving comments about those rules until April 11. In addition, in the state of Connecticut, the General Law Committee has introduced a bill focusing on data collection rules for companies that advertise on sites they do not own.
Brodsky's proposed legislation would make it illegal for certain web companies - such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! - to collect information about people online without their consent, and use the data for targeted advertising. If passed, it will force web sites to provide consumers with obvious ways to opt out of advertising based on their browsing history and online actions. Users would have to give explicit permission before companies could link their surfing data to their personal information.
Brodsky, a Democrat who has represented part of Westchester County since 1982, believes that the new technology has created a conflict between the economic model of the Internet and consumers' expectations of privacy. 'Should these companies be able to sell or use what's essentially private data without permission?' he asks. 'The easy answer is absolutely not'.
Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania believes that such a law is essential. 'Consumers have no idea how much information is being collected about them, and the advertising industry should have to deal with that,' he stated.
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