Privacy Policies Coming Under Scrutiny
The Federal Trade Commission is delving into questions of online privacy and advertising. The problem stems from the complexity of the policies and the fact that they can change at any time. Critics are voicing their concerns and getting more attention than usual in the last week.
At a FTC workshop on privacy issues, Faith Cranor of Carnigie Mellon suggested:
"We should look at the whole picture and think, 'Do we need nutrition labels for privacy?'".
Another researcher noted:
Part of the problem is that many privacy policies change without warning, and users have to go back to the policy to see the changes, said Carlos Jensen, a computer science professor at Oregon State University. "Reading a privacy policy that could change five seconds after you read it means I'm not going to bother," he said.
This is coming out just a week after some well publicized calls for a "Do Not Track" list modeled after the telephone "Do Not Call" list. From InternetNews.com
Consumer privacy groups are pushing for increased regulatory oversight of online advertising, including a "Do Not Track" registry that would ban companies from tracking online users and targeting ads based on their activities.The groups, which include the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Consumer Action, sent a proposal to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking for it to oversee a mandatory "Do Not Track" registry.
The registry would loosely follow the model of the successful national and state "Do Not Call" registries that prevent telemarketers from making unsolicited sales pitches to consumers who have signed.
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