Do Not Track List

The FTC Town Hall examines privacy issues and behavioral advertising. The webcast is here.

A coalition of privacy and consumer advocates petitioned the FTC, asking the agency to create a Do Not Track List. They claim that the self-regulatory Network Advertising Initiative has failed to protect the privacy of consumers shopping in a digital environment.

The petition boldly states that "a consumer's computer belongs to him or her." Is our information our property, and are we the only ones having rights over them? Wait a minute, is information property? Pamela Samuelson doubted in 2000, in her Privacy as Intellectual Property article, that "a property rights approach to protecting personal data would actually achieve the desired effect of achieving more information privacy."

The petition also urges Congres to establish a national Online Consumer Protection Advisory Commitee, in charge of evaluating changes in the advertising industry, and how these changes impact consumers.