FTC's new privacy guidelines not enough, say critics
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US-- The Federal Trade Commission has published revised principles for industry self-regulation of online behavioural targeting – but critics, including some of the FTC's own commissioners, are saying the guidelines don't go far enough.
In a report published yesterday the FTC addressed the comments received since it originally drew up the proposed principles in December 2007.
The revised principles state that privacy protections should cover “any data that reasonably can be associated with a particular consumer or computer or other device” – deliberately providing more flexibility than the narrower definition of ‘personally identifiable information', which would have excluded IP addresses and profiles built up from clickstream data.
The guidelines state that websites should provide “clear and prominent notice” regarding behavioural advertising, and an accessible way for people to choose whether to be included – although they stop short of specifying whether this should be by way of an ‘opt-in' or ‘opt-out'.
Two of the four commissioners who approved the report also voiced concern about the broader outlook for online privacy in separately issued statements. Pamela Jones Harbour said the Commission needs to look more broadly at privacy, as “behavioural advertising represents just one aspect of a multifaceted privacy conundrum surrounding data collection and use”.
Jon Leibowitz said: “The industry needs to do a better job of meaningful, rigorous self-regulation, or it will certainly invite legislation by Congress and a more regulatory approach by our Commission. Put simply, this could be the last clear chance to show that self-regulation can – and will – effectively protect consumers' privacy in a dynamic online marketplace.”
The Center for Democracy & Technology, which has been campaigning to protect consumer privacy in the face of new technologies, agreed that the industry's self-regulation efforts have “fallen short”, and made clear that it intends to continue pushing the Senate for privacy legislation.
Author: Robert Bain
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