Listening to All Things Considered last Monday, I heard a news feature about a bill being written in the House of Representatives that would regulate how information collected by Websites about their users can be utilized. This information is currently used by Websites to direct advertising at visitors. Many Web users do not realize that Websites collect data for this purpose. One of the issues that this bill would attempt to resolve is whether or not a Website would have to inform visitors that personal information is being gathered. This is a change in law that has many online businesses nervous, for they fear that Web users will avoid their sites if this disclosure has to be presented to visitors. Moreover, if the bill would require that users have a choice to opt out of data collection, the Websites stand to loose important data for their advertising revenue. It is therefore not surprising that there is opposition by the Web advertising industry and sites that depend on advertising revenue to these ideas.
This issue of Internet privacy and the use of personal data by Websites has been ignored on a national level for many years. With the vast amount of information being generated by the ever expanding use of the Web, it is becoming imperative to create a set of rules concerning how companies and Websites can utilize this information. I do not see a valid reason for them to justify not having to operate with at least partial transparency. Most Web users are probably aware that the sites they visit collect data about their activities. It is the price of being able to access a Website without paying a monetary fee. It seems very unreasonable to expect Web users to suddenly abandon sites if data collection diclosures become required by law. It would only be an affirmation of what is already happening.
This is the URL of the news feature mentioned in this blog:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127987513
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