Can you anonymously surf the Web and peruse social networks without consequence, or are today's top tech companies compiling a FBI-like file on your behavior?
More than likely, it's somewhere in the middle, according to Thursday testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Representatives from Facebook, Yahoo, and Google appeared on Capitol Hill to once again discuss how much information they are collecting and maintaining about their customers in order to serve up more targeted advertisements.
All three companies insisted that there are mechanisms in place for users to opt-out of targeted ads, but the question then turned to whether Congress needs to step in and make sure these opt-out requests are being honored, or whether the industry is capable of self-regulation.
Efforts by the U.S.-based Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to come up with new rules regarding behavioral advertising and company efforts to reduce the amount of time they retain customer data were all driven by regulatory pressure, according to Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.
“There's a role for self-regulation, but I just have to underscore that self-regulation has failed," Chester said. “The only reason the NAI is updating its principles is because of the controversy over the Google-DoubleClick merger. The only reason companies have reduced their retention time is because the European Union has been pressing them, so it's the forces of regulation that have bolstered the failing self-regulatory system."
Chester pushed for the Federal Trade Commission to have additional authority to go after those who violate privacy standards.
More than likely, it's somewhere in the middle, according to Thursday testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Representatives from Facebook, Yahoo, and Google appeared on Capitol Hill to once again discuss how much information they are collecting and maintaining about their customers in order to serve up more targeted advertisements.
All three companies insisted that there are mechanisms in place for users to opt-out of targeted ads, but the question then turned to whether Congress needs to step in and make sure these opt-out requests are being honored, or whether the industry is capable of self-regulation.
Efforts by the U.S.-based Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to come up with new rules regarding behavioral advertising and company efforts to reduce the amount of time they retain customer data were all driven by regulatory pressure, according to Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.
“There's a role for self-regulation, but I just have to underscore that self-regulation has failed," Chester said. “The only reason the NAI is updating its principles is because of the controversy over the Google-DoubleClick merger. The only reason companies have reduced their retention time is because the European Union has been pressing them, so it's the forces of regulation that have bolstered the failing self-regulatory system."
Chester pushed for the Federal Trade Commission to have additional authority to go after those who violate privacy standards.
