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How the online advertising world tracks Internet users and collects data on them is again in the spotlight as an official at the FTC criticizes the state of online privacy.
Loretta Garrison, a senior attorney at the FTC, said during today’s Gov 2.0 Summit that Internet users have very little idea of how much data online companies are collecting on them, and how that data comes into play for marketing activities.
For consumers, addressing this state of affairs could require a “do-not-track” list, she said. But for ecommerce marketers, who are always looking for new ways to reach and strengthen relationships with new and existing customers, this and other government regulation could hamper their ability to do business, or so critics have long claimed. Ecommerce Guide has the story.
WASHINGTON — A senior official at the Federal Trade Commission hinted on Wednesday that the agency is planning to prod online advertisers and Web companies to adopt new education tools and data-collection restrictions in an effort to protect consumer privacy.
“Right now the consumers really don’t understand what’s going on. So I think that is the real issue that needs to be addressed,” Loretta Garrison, a senior attorney at the FTC, said here at the O’Reilly Media Gov 2.0 Summit. “We think they sort of know they’re being tracked, but they don’t really understand the wealth of information that’s being collected and the many different parties that are involved and the various ways in which [information] is being used.”