Web firms acknowledge tracking behavior without consent

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: August 12, 2008 3:29:32 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Web firms acknowledge tracking behavior without  
consent

Web firms acknowledge tracking behavior without consent
By Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post

Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using  
targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing  
customers, according to letters released Monday by the House Energy  
and Commerce Committee.

And Google Inc., the leading online advertiser, stated that it had  
begun using Internet tracking technology that enabled it to more  
precisely follow Web-surfing behavior across affiliated sites.

The revelations came in response to a bipartisan inquiry of how more  
than 30 Internet companies might have gathered data to target  
customers. Some privacy advocates and lawmakers said the disclosures  
helped build a case for an overarching online-privacy law.

"Increasingly, there are no limits technologically as to what a  
company can do in terms of collecting information . . . and then  
selling it as a commodity to other providers," said committee member  
Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who created the Privacy Caucus 12 years  
ago. "Our responsibility is to make sure that we create a law that,  
regardless of the technology, includes a set of legal guarantees that  
consumers have with respect to their information."

<http://telephonyonline.com/external.html?q=http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-privacy12-2008aug12,0,2781187.story 
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