Top ISPs Deny Watching You Online (PC Magazine)
Chloe Albanesius - PC Magazine Thu Sep 25, 10:35 AM ET
Three top Internet service providers on Thursday denied using online behavioral advertising and called on all Internet companies to adhere to standards that require customers to opt in to the tracking of their online activities.
AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon denied keeping tabs on customers' Internet activity in order to service up more targeted online ads, but reserved the right to do so in the future.
"AT&T does not today engage in online behavioral advertising, but we understand the uniquely sensitive nature of this practice," Dorothy Attwood, senior vice president of public policy and chief privacy officer at AT&T, told the Senate Commerce Committee.
Attwood said that AT&T would not use customer information for targeted ads "without an affirmative, advance action by the consumer that is based on a clear explanation of how the consumer's action will affect the use of her information."
Peter Stern, chief strategy officer for Time Warner Cable, took a similar stance.
"Presently, Time Warner Cable does not engage in targeted Internet advertising as an ISP or as a Web site operator," Stern said. "Should Time Warner Cable decide to engage in such activities, our customers' privacy will be a fundamental consideration."
"Any technology that is used to track and collect consumer online behavior for the purposes of targeted advertising – regardless of which company is doing the collecting – should only be used with the customer's knowledge and consent," said Tom Tauke, executive vice president of public affairs, policy, and communications at Verizon.
Internet companies typically collect user data such as IP address, location, and browser. Most insist that this type of information is non-identifying and that search data is anonymized after a certain period of time, but the technology exists to take it one step further and serve up targeted ads based on Internet activity.
Does your search history show that you were looking for a new DVD player? Why not display an ad for Best Buy DVD player deals? Seems easy enough, but most users do not even realize this is going on; companies typically require users to opt out if they object, rather than opt in before the practice begins.
The issue picked up steam this summer after Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on telecom and the Internet, led the charge to require an opt-in behavioral advertising policy.
He called on 33 companies -- including AT&T, Time Warner, and Verizon – to provide details about their online ad practices, most of whom denied invasive practices.
Markey also targeted NebuAd, which takes customer information from ISPs and helps them serve up more targeted ads. After several bruising hearings on Capitol Hill, NebuAd chief executive Bob Dykes resigned earlier this month, and the company scaled back its online ad business.
This type of scrutiny has prompted some companies to back off their behavioral advertising plans, according to Tauke.
"There's a lot to be said for shining the light of day on a lot of practices," Tauke said. "People stopped their behavior; that's what an industry group can do.
Verizon is currently working with industry insiders to establish best practices, Tauke said. Participants have signed non-disclosure agreements, so Tauke said he was not at liberty to disclose their identities, but "it is fair to say that there are ISPs, and representatives of other online types of activities."
Tauke said he hopes the group will be able to produce something by year's end.
All three companies stressed that legislation should be a last resort and that it should not be technology-specific. If truly necessary, a bill should involve all facets of online advertising – ad networks, publishers, search engines, ISPs, browser developers, and other application providers, representatives said.
"A framework that leaves any provider uncovered would leave all users unprotected," Stern said.
Gigi Sohn, president and co-founder of interest group Public Knowledge, said that under the Communications Act, cable Internet providers like Time Warner are covered by stricter privacy regulations than broadband telephone ISPs like Verizon and AT&T. If anything, Sohn said, lawmakers should amend the act "to fix those gaps."
"If you could take on the Communication Act and level the playing field, we'd applaud that heartily," Tauke said. But he acknowledged that "re-writing that act would be a very long process and very hard to get anything to fruition."
At this point, it might be most prudent to leave it to the industry and the Federal Trade Commission, which has developed behavioral advertising guidelines of its own, according to Tauke.
Also on Thursday, Consumers Union released a study that said 72 percent of Americans are concerned that their online behaviors were being tracked and profiled by companies.