The Issues of Do Not Track vs. Do Not Target Are Fundamental to Online Behavioral Monitoring
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The
commissioners also stressed the need for strong "Do Not Track"
legislation as a key part of a larger effort around consumer privacy.
Rainey
Reitman, activism director for the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF), applauded the FTC for its efforts, saying that
the final report creates strong guidelines for protecting consumer privacy
choices in the online world. In particular, Reitman said the efforts behind Do
Not Track should be supported. While acknowledging that some groups, such as
the Digital Advertising Alliance, have
made strides in helping consumers better understand how behavioral advertising
works, Reitman said the FTC should continue supporting efforts by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to create strong Do Not Track standards.
She said that
Do Not Track should not be weakened to the point of becoming a "Do Not Target"
standard.
The issue of
Do Not Track versus Do Not Target is fundamental to online behavioral
tracking, Reitman wrote, adding that the EFF would continue monitoring how
such standards are implemented.
In the lone
dissenting opinion on the FTC, Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch said a concern was
whether such groups as the Digital Advertising Alliance could influence the W3C
enough to water down the Do Not Track standard, saying that the firms
professing an interest in self-regulation are really talking about a Do Not
Target mechanism, which would only prevent a firm from serving targeted ads,
rather than a Do Not Track mechanism, which would prevent the collection of
consumer data altogether.
Ioana Rusu,
regulatory counsel for
Consumers Union, an advocacy division of Consumer Reports, also lauded the FTC, particularly the
commissioners push to have Congress pass privacy laws to enforce what is being
discussed in the industry itself.
There are a
lot of good initiatives in play that could help
protect consumers' privacy, but ideally, we need a law to make sure
everyone is playing by the same rules, Rusu wrote in a blog post. This is a
good report that reflects the growing concerns about online privacy, especially
the fact that we need better tools and information to decide how our personal
information is used.
Others said
the FTCs recommendations dont go far enough in ensuring that the private
sector adheres to more stringent privacy guidelines. Officials with the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said in a statement that the FTCs
suggestions were not as rigid as those proposed
by the Obama Administration in February.
The framework
is not as extensive as the White House Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and
depends on industry self-regulation, EPIC officials wrote, noting that in
previous comments on a draft of the FTC report, they said that the commission
"mistakenly endorses self-regulation and 'notice and choice,' and fails to
explain why it has not used its current Section 5 authority to better safeguard
the interests of consumers."
Section 5 is
an existing law that enables the FTC to investigate deceptive trade practices.
The Information
Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) criticized the FTC for not
striking the right balance between the need for greater consumer privacy
controls and the need for innovation and a strong online economy.
"The FTC's
recommendations to protect consumer privacy by imposing new reporting
requirements on businesses, restricting online advertising and stifling
innovation in the mobile market are misguided, ITIF Senior Analyst Daniel
Castro said in a statement. The new report shows the FTC still does not
understand the fundamental economics of the Internet. Consumers should have
options to protect their privacy, but there are important trade-offs and costs
in creating those protections. The FTC's recommendations would create economic
burdens that could stifle the efficiency and innovation that consumers also
want from the Internet."
However, the
Consumer Unions Rusu said that unless companies that do business online can
ease consumer concerns over privacy, innovation and economics will suffer.
When we talk
about online privacy, we're talking about trust, Rusu wrote. A company needs
customers to trust that their personal information is going to be
treated with respect. If you dont trust that a company is going to use your
information responsibly, youre going to be much less likely to adopt new
services, and that hurts innovation.
In this sense,
the mobile market is particularly important, she said. The market for mobile
apps is exploding, and we clearly need to spell out the limits on the treasure
trove of data thats being collected by these apps. With this report, the
FTC is really zeroing in on privacy concerns in this fast-growing space.
