Consumer groups urge restrictions on internet tracking
September 1, 2009
A coalition of ten consumer and privacy groups today called on Congress to enact legislation to protect consumer privacy in response to the growing use of online marketing techniques that track consumers' internet usage and web surfing behaviors.
The groups said behavioral advertising, where a user's online activity is tracked so that ads can be served based on what websites a user visits, is an invasion of privacy.
"Online behavioral tracking is even more distressing when consumers aren't aware who is tracking them, that it's happening or how the information will be used," according to the groups, which include the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
So far, the online industry has argued that self-regulation provides adequate consumer protection. But the coalition said formal regulation is necessary.
Chairman Rick Boucher has indicated that the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet will consider consumer privacy legislation this fall. Hearings were held this summer.
Meanwhile, the consumer group Free Press is urging the Federal Communications Commission to define broadband as speeds of 5 megabits per second for uploading and downloading, regardless of it is fixed broadband or mobile broadband.
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