Number: RL34693
Title: Privacy Law and Online Advertising: Legal Analysis of Data Gathering By Online Advertisers Such As Double Click and NebuAd
Authors: Kathleen Ann Ruane, American Law Division 
Abstract: There are no current federal regulations specific to online behavioral advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put forth a number of guiding principles intended to aid the industry in creating self-regulatory principles. The FTC maintains that self-regulation is preferable to government intervention in this case. Organizations such as the Network Advertising Initiative have created policies which many online advertising providers have pledged to follow that represent industry best practices for protecting the privacy of web users. The 110th Congress has expressed interest in this issue. In July of 2008, both the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings to examine the data collection practices of NebuAd, an online advertising provider that collects data on web users by using "deep packet inspection." Representatives Markey and Stearn sent a letter to 33 companies (such as AT&T, Comcast, and Google) on August 1, 2008, requesting additional information about their usage of "deep packet inspection" to collect data on users of their services. The Senate Commerce Committee held another hearing addressing broadband providers and consumer privacy on September 25, 2008.
Pages: 13
Date: October 2, 2008