Safeguarding the privacy of internet users has become a popular topic of discussion and rightly so. Due to ongoing technological developments the internet has made life more convenient for its users. Ordering products online has become relatively simple and fast when the specific website already has the user’s information and the user appreciates the suggestion of other products by the website that are related to the product the user just purchased.

By tracking websites visited by the user, companies get an overview of what products that particular person is interested in, the person’s demographics as well as their geographic location and so on. This makes it possible for companies to target their advertisement to certain groups of people that are more likely to purchase that product because of their interest or need. Although this has certain benefits for both internet users and the companies, it also raises the concern about the protection of privacy. Users of the internet may not be aware about the use of their private information by others and those who are aware may see it as an intrusion of their right to privacy. Companies however, prosper by the use of this information and restricting that usage might cause economical losses and therefore job losses. The Federal Trade Committee (FTC) issued a report that deals with these two conflicting interests: the protection of online privacy for its users and maintaining the prosperity of the advertisement industry.

In its report the FTC mentions the privacy policies that many companies have in effect but that these policies have become so lengthy and difficult to understand for most of the readers, that it has “force[d] consumers to bear too much burden in protecting their privacy.” To release that burden for consumers, i.e. the users of the internet, the FTC suggests a two-step plan. The first step focuses on implementing certain privacy policies into the daily operations of business like “reasonable security for consumer data, limited collection and retention of such data, and reasonable procedures to promote data accuracy. Companies also should implement and enforce procedurally sound privacy practices throughout their organizations, including assigning personnel to oversee privacy issues, training employees, and conducting privacy reviews for new products and services.” The second step focuses on the relationship between the company and the consumer and puts the consumer in power. The consumer should decide whether it allows the company to use the provided private information. In order to make such a decision the consumer should be well informed about for what, how and by whom the information shall be used. This could be realized by the use of a so called “do not track” device. The idea is similar to the National Do Not Call Registry where people can place their phone number on a list to avoid phone calls from telemarketers.

The idea of the “do not track” tool has received quite some opposition. On CNNMoney.com David Goldman describes the possible consequences of such a tool. Not only could it negatively affect e-commerce but also the users of certain search engines and social networks. The users of Google and Facebook can use these appliances for free thanks to the revenue from the advertisements. Daniel Weitzner of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration explains in the Wall Street Journal that “"There's a growing agreement in the technical community that it's not so hard to send out a do-not-track signal," he said."But the question is who is going to listen to that signal? That's a hard question to answer. If we try to draw lines too firmly, we do risk providing a false sense of security."”

According to the press release by the FTC the proposal “is intended to inform policymakers, including Congress, as they develop solutions, policies, and potential laws governing privacy, and guide and motivate industry as it develops more robust and effective best practices and self-regulatory guidelines.” The press release and the report “Protecting Consumer Data in an Era of Rapid Change” can be found on the website of the FTC. The report is not definitive, it is a preliminary staff report and the public can file comments until January 31, 2011.

Sources:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/12/privacyreport.shtm

http://www.ftc.gov/os/2010/12/101201privacyreport.pdf

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/02/technology/ftc_do_not_track/index.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/technology/03privacy.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704377004575651201793245866.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews