Consumer groups ask FTC to probe online tracking and analytics practices
Two consumer groups are asking the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to investigate what they call “invasive and deceptive” online advertising practices, including web analytics, user tracking and behavioral targeting. The groups also asked the FTC to issue injunctions to halt abusive practices and to urge Congress to pass more stringent online privacy protection requirements.
In a complaint filed Wednesday, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said current online privacy disclosure policies are inadequate, failing to inform users what data are being collected and how that information is subsequently used.
They also contend that while many companies claim they collect only non-personally identifiable information, they fail to acknowledge the tremendous amounts of data compiled and associated with each unique visitor to their sites.
“Unfortunately, over the last several years, the FTC has largely ignored the critical developments of the electronic marketplace that have placed the privacy of every American at risk,” says Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “The FTC should long ago have sounded a very public alarm—and called for action—concerning the data collection practices stemming from such fields as web analytics, online advertising networks, behavioral targeting, and rich ‘virtual reality’ media, all of which threaten the privacy of the U.S. public.”
The complaint asks the FTC to investigate five areas of concern: user tracking/web analytics, behavioral targeting, audience segmentation, data gathering/mining and industry consolidation. It also asks that the investigation begin with Microsoft Corp.’s new adCenter services.
Microsoft welcomes an opportunity to discuss innovations in its online advertising and how adCenter works to protect consumers’ privacy, Mike Hintze, senior attorney, says in a statement.
“Consumer trust is essential to the success of online business and helping protect consumers’ privacy is a top priority for Microsoft in our development and implementation of online services,” Hintze says. “We are very open about our privacy policies and practices across all of our online services and advertising products because we believe that providing consumers with this type of transparency and control is extremely important.”
Web analytics firm Coremetrics Inc. says it welcomes and supports any efforts made by the FTC to further educate the industry at large on best practices for supporting privacy.
“As a company that works with more than 800 leading brands, we have the utmost respect for the privacy of our clients’ customer base,” Coremetrics says in a statement. “We strictly adhere to the industry’s privacy principles set forth by the FTC and our policy is clearly defined in detail on our web site.”
In addition to asking for an investigation of online marketing practices, the Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group also want the FTC to push Congress to pass legislation requiring affirmative consent for all data used—which must be regularly updated and re-approved by users.
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