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Feds Want to Help Cover Your Web Tracks

FTC aims to limit companies' ability to watch consumers

By Laila Weir, Newser User

Posted May 22, 2008 6:57 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Federal Trade Commission is considering guidelines governing how online advertisers target consumers based on their Web surfing—and some lawmakers want them to be mandatory, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates are pushing to limit behavioral tracking, but some Internet companies say that could mean sites won’t be able to keep offering content free.

Companies that track Internet users’ behavior say the data collected is anonymous because they don’t keep personally identifiable information, but privacy activists disagree. "It is not anonymous if the companies are tracking the same user over time," says one. Meanwhile, a rep from the Newspaper Association of America argued the new guidelines could "jeopardize the consumer's ability to get free content on the Internet."

Washington, UNITED STATES: The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building is seen 19 September 2006 in Washington, DC. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

ADVANCE FOR MARCH 24; graphic shows recent acquisitions by top Web firms and U.S. online advertising spending; 1c x 4 inches; 46.5 mm x 101.6 mm (AP Photo)

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Feds Want to Help Cover Your Web Tracks

FTC aims to limit companies' ability to watch consumers

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FTC May Require Facebook Privacy Features Be Opt-In

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OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

online privacy • FTC • Internet advertising • Web tracking • behavioral tracking • web cookies

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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More Newser Stories

Web Inventor: Don't Track Me, Bro

Internet creator decries spyware: 'You can't have' my data

Facebook Settles Privacy Case With FTC

It agrees to independent audits for 20 years

FTC May Require Facebook Privacy Features Be Opt-In

Settlement also reportedly calls for 20 years of privacy audits

That 'Like' Button Is Tracking You

But Facebook and other companies claim it's an unintentional side effect

Microsoft Adds Do-Not-Track to Internet Explorer

New version is out Tuesday

About Us

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Newser By Users

Community

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More News

What is Newser?