behavioral advertising

Don't Like Websites Tracking You? The Courts Don't Seem to Care

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:43:14 -0400

Full article: GigaOM
Mathew Ingram
Websites place small data files called "cookies" on your computer so that they can remember you when you return. Most of us have gotten pretty used to this, but a new strain of cookies that has appeared over the past couple of years is causing controversy. Known as "flash cookies," they recreate themselves even after a user deletes them, and there have been several lawsuits aimed at advertisers and services that employ them. So far, however, the courts seem unsympathetic.

Google Warns that Privacy Opt-in Rules Could Create "Dystopia"

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:31:05 -0400

Full article: Ars Technica
Matthew Lasar
Imagine an Internet in which every website that uses behavioral advertising has to get your up-front permission to do so—make that double for login-account-informed ads, and triple if the site sells your data to third-party applications. Great idea? Perhaps not for Google.

FDA Asked to Probe Drug Companies' Use of Behavioral Targeting

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:27:57 -0500

Full article: MediaPost
The Center for Digital Democracy has asked the Food and Drug Administration to investigate whether pharmaceutical companies are unfairly using behavioral targeting techniques to market drugs online.

FTC Urged to Clamp Down on Data Collection Online

Lindsy Embree — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:45:54 -0500

Full article: MediaPost
Wendy Davis
Privacy advocates are renewing calls for the Federal Trade Commission to impose limits on online data collection and ad targeting. The privacy advocates argue that Web companies are not providing consumers with enough power over the collection and use of their data.

Privacy in Online Behavioral Tracking and Targeting -- It's Time to Protect Consumers

Stevie Converse — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:11:24 -0400

Full article: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Rebecca Jeschke
A coalition of consumer and privacy groups called on Congress to protect Americans' privacy from invasive online behavioral tracking and targeting. The groups likened the tracker to being followed by an invisible stalker -- individuals aren't aware that it's happening, who is tracking them, and how the information will be used.

Privacy Advocates Want Regulation of Behavioral Advertising

Stevie Converse — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:05:24 -0400

Full article: Ars Technica
Ryan Paul
A coalition of consumer and Internet rights groups have written a joint open letter to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which articulates some specific concerns about behavioral tracking and provides an outline of proposed regulatory consumer protection guidelines.

Groups Call for New Checks on Behavioral Ad Data

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:25:44 -0400

Full article: CNet
Tom Krazit
Privacy advocates released a series of guidelines for legislators considering regulations on behavioral advertising, calling for greater transparency and giving Web surfers more control over how the data is used.

Regulators Rethink Approach to Online Privacy

Stevie Converse — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:11:36 -0400

Full article: Wall Street Journal
Amy Schatz
Regulators are rethinking their approach to online privacy and security, asking academics, public interest groups and industry to suggest ways to overhaul rules to better protect consumers, whether they're sharing photos on social networks, using cell phone applications to find nearby restaurants or shopping online.

Fresh Views at Agency Overseeing Online Ads

Lindsy Embree — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:00:08 -0400

Full article: New York Times
Stephanie Clifford
Most of the online world is based on a simple, if unarticulated, agreement: consumers browse Web sites free, and in return, they give up data -- like their gender or income level -- which the sites use to aim their advertisements. The new head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, David C. Vladeck, says it is time for that to change.

The FTC Takes on Targeted Web Ads

Lindsy Embree — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:22:04 -0400

Full article: BusinessWeek
Douglas MacMillan
Jon Leibowitz wants to terminate -- or at least rein in -- a practice he finds harmful to consumers: delivering ads to individuals based on the Web pages they visit and searches they carry out. Appointed by President Barack Obama to run the Federal Trade Commission, Leibowitz has made behavioral targeting a top priority.