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Privacy Groups and FTC Attack Behavioral Ad Practices

by Warren Riddle on May 3, 2010 at 08:25 AM

behavioral targeting
Terms like "behavioral marketing" and "targeted ads" have basically been reduced to vulgarities among consumers recently. Stories that describe particularly duplicitous and shady advertising techniques steadily emerge and circulate among the media and the public, inspiring significant concerns over privacy and accountability issues.

Perhaps the single greatest contributor to the growing 'fear of advertising' phenomenon arises from the practices of enormous entities like Google, Facebook and Apple. These organizations house personal information for literally hundreds of millions of people, data that could be shared and compromised at any time. Because of the possible repercussions, privacy advocacy groups and the Federal Trade Commission have staunchly and steadfastly sought measures to increase transparency and protect consumer privacy.

According to the New York Times, those measures, like the upcoming implementation of the 'Power I' icon, are having their desired effect. A survey of 90 different companies by the Ponemon Institute revealed that, "Privacy issues have prompted marketers to use online behavioral advertising -- based on tracking a user's Web browsing habits -- 75 percent less than they would have otherwise."

That certainly represents a comforting revelation for those concerned about having their actions tracked and permanently stored, but maintaining online privacy and protecting one's information still remain important. For simple data protection steps, our recent guide can help provide some easy guidance. [From: The New York Times]

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