FTC to Consider Online Ad Rules

The Federal Trade Commission's chief, Jon Leibowitz, says the FTC will be taking a closer look at online marketing strategies and suggests that rules may be needed to make privacy policies on web sites easier to decipher. 

There's a two-day FTC conference going on in Washington, D.C., to hash out the good and bad of behavioral targeting, using web-surfing history data to deliver ads based on what web sites people have visited. Privacy advocates are debating with Internet company execs over the merits of protecting people's personal information versus the aim of collecting consumer data to deliver relevant ads to Internet users and keep most online content free.

"People should have dominion over their computers," Leibowitz said, according to The New York Times coverage. "The current 'don't ask, don't tell' in online tracking and profiling has to end." 

This is a tough one. As consumers, we need to know more about (and have a say in) how our personal data is being gathered, stored, and used. But the notion of the FTC regulating business on the web raises some pretty frightening creativity-dampening specters.

If you were at the conference, what would you like the government and Internet company execs to know about where you stand on how your online personal data is used? 

LINK: F.T.C. Chief Vows Tighter Control of Online Ads [NYT]