Business
Time for a do-not-track list?
A coalition of privacy groups is calling on the FTC to create a do-not-track list, akin to the do-not-call list, in light of Internet search companies' purchasing Internet advertising outfits, Reuters reports.The "do not track" list would require advertisers that place electronic cookies or tags on consumers' computers to register with the FTC all domain names of the servers involved in such activities, according to the groups.
A coalition of privacy groups is calling on the FTC to create a do-not-track list, akin to the do-not-call list, in light of Internet search companies' purchasing Internet advertising outfits, Reuters reports.
The "do not track" list would require advertisers that place electronic cookies or tags on consumers' computers to register with the FTC all domain names of the servers involved in such activities, according to the groups."Online opt-outs should be as well-known and as easy as the Do Not Call list," said Mark Cooper, research director of Consumer Federation of America.
The Times says the FTC has seen such requests before but this is the first time so many groups had pressed the issue.
“The goal of providing a consumer with advertising that matches their interests is something that provides a lot of value to consumers,” Eileen Harrington, deputy director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said. “But there are questions about whether it may also come with costs that consumers don’t want to pay.”