WASHINGTON — Over the past year, the Wall Street Journal’s What They Know series has exposed Internet tracking and the consequences that come with it. The Federal Trade Commission told Congress in December it supports creating a “Do Not Track” option, allowing Internet users to not be tracked while online or to receive targeted advertisements.
A major discovery by the WSJ investigation was that Smartphone apps transmitted users’ personal information without their knowledge. They examined 101 popular Smartphone apps and found that 56 apps transmitted a unique ID attached to the phone to other companies and 47 apps identified and transmitted the device’s location.
These new discoveries on Internet and mobile tracking have caught the attention of Congress and prompted some members to take action. More than four bills have been proposed about online privacy with more likely on the way.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., cites the WSJ investigation as one of the reasons for introducing the Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011, which would give consumers the ability to prevent the collection and use of data on their online activities. The Federal Trade Commission would develop standards for a “Do Not Track” mechanism, allowing users to opt out of tracking. If companies failed to respect the consumer’s choice, it would be considered a deceptive act punishable by law. Companies would also have to share how they collect information and with whom they share the information with.
“People have a right to surf the web without Big Brother watching their every move and announcing it to the world,” said Speier in a statement. “The Internet has matured, and it is time for consumers’ protection to keep pace.”
In a recent USA Today poll, nearly seven out of 10 Facebook members and 52 percent of Google users surveyed say they are either “somewhat” or “very concerned” about their online privacy while using these two sites.
Some warn that Do Not Track bills may hurt the online advertising industry, which has increased 14 percent over the first nine months of 2010.
This begs the question –– Are there any positives to Internet tracking that would be lost if a Do Not Tracking bill passed?
Love seeing new movie recommendations on Netflix based on movies you’ve watched? Prefer seeing personalized advertisements when you log onto Facebook rather than ads for products or services that don’t affect you? These functions are based on Internet tracking.
Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, said users get as much out of Internet tracking as advertisers do.
“If Web users supply less information to the Web, the Web will supply less information to them. Free content won’t go away if consumers decline to allow personalization, but there will be less of it,” Harper wrote in a Wall Street Journal article. “Bloggers and operators of small websites will have a little less reason to produce the stuff that makes our Internet an endlessly fascinating place to visit.”
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., will introduce a competing bill on Internet privacy that will take into consideration the online ad industry. Stearns introduced a similar bill in 2005, but neither the House nor the Senate voted on it. The new bill will have the same foundation, but will only encourage companies to offer more information on how users are being tracked. The bill will largely allow the online industry to continue its current practices.
“Online advertising … supports much of the commercial content, applications and services that are available today,” Stearns said. “We do not want to disrupt a well-established and successful business model.
It is unclear if Stearn’s bill will be successful. And Speier, a Democrat , has not found a Republican co-sponsor. One of the problems with her bill is it doesn’t take the online advertising industry into account. It is narrowly tailored to address tracking issues only rather than the broader question of online privacy.
There is one bill still being drafted that may strike the perfect compromise. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass,and John McCain, R-Ariz. are working on a bipartisan bill that would create the first comprehensive privacy law. It would require companies to seek a person’s permission to share data about him with outsiders. It would also give people the right to see the data collected on them. This bill is also unique in that it would cover personal data–gathering across all industries, covering data ranging from addresses to unique IDs assigned to cell phones and computers.
“We are at a tipping point where we have to come to grips with the information that’s being collected,” said Stearns.
