Released: November 12, 2006

Tracking your moves on the Web

Source: David Lazarus, San Francisco Chronicle

We’re being watched on the Web. That’s the crux of a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission filed the other day by consumer advocates, who warn that marketers are quietly compiling “digital dossiers” of people’s online habits.

The complaint was filed by the Center for Digital Democracy, a Washington advocacy group, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a leading consumer-watchdog organization.

“A vast infrastructure of data collection has been put in place without the public’s awareness,” said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. “It’s designed for only one thing - to get you to buy and buy and buy.”

The complaint calls on the FTC to investigate online marketing techniques and seek legislation that would prohibit the most consumer-unfriendly practices.

An FTC spokesman declined to comment.

“The use of Web analytics and tracking and surveillance software has outpaced the ability of privacy policies to explain to consumers how their trails of bread crumbs are left across the Internet,” said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG’s consumer program director.

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