FTC urges tighter controls over online advertising

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 2 Nov 2007 at 14:14

A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) official has accused online advertisers of falling short in their promised efforts to respect user privacy.

Speaking at an FTC conference to discuss the privacy implications of behavioural advertising, FTC commissioner Jon Leibowitz told advertisers that they should be telling consumers that information was being gathered, protecting that data and giving them a choice to opt out.

Leibowitz gave the example of his 12 year-old daughter and her friends telling him that they had been exposed to ads that said things like "touch me harder" and "how long is your next kiss?"

Speaking to an audience which included search giants Google and Yahoo, and privacy advocates and consumer groups, he left open the possibility of a "do not track" list like that recently proposed by the Centre for Democracy and Technology.

"I am concerned ... when my personal information is sold to third parties and when my online (research) is tracked across several websites," he said.

However, Randall Rothenberg, president of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, warned against inadvertently stifling one of the most dynamic sectors of the US economy.

"The government must be prudent," he cautioned, while Trevor Hughes of the Network Advertising Initiative mocked what he called the "shock" that had greeted advertiser's attempts to develop more targeted ads.

Sensitive Data

David Morgan, founder of the advertising firm Tacoda, which was recently acquired by AOL, argued that his company already self-regulated by shying away from collecting certain sensitive data, even if the user was anonymous.

"The guidance that we've gotten is that cancer, HIV, medical conditions, we just stay away from," he said, adding that children's information and indications of sexual preference also went uncollected.

"We don't touch search data. You have to filter every bit of it to make sure it's not personal."

AOL recently announced that it would let users opt out of online advertisements, and Google is also thought to be looking at potential ways to protect consumer privacy.