Embarq Corp. has revealed more details about its exploration of a program that tracked Internet subscribers’ Web-surfing habits for advertising purposes, telling Congress that it performed the test on 26,000 customers in a Kansas town.
Building on an earlier response to Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Embarq CEO Thomas Gerke wrote in a letter late Wednesday that his Overland Park, Kan.-based company chose Gardner, Kan., for its test because it was Embarq’s smallest market and near qualified technicians.
Gerke’s letter also revealed that the company included a notice about potential uses of customer Internet history for advertising on an obscure part of its Web site, and that 15 people asked not to participate.
Internet service providers like Embarq have attracted the scrutiny of Congress and privacy advocates for technology that develops targeted ads based on what Web sites a particular subscriber visits. Those providers and the companies that make the programs, notably Silicon Valley-based NebuAd Inc., have defended the technology, saying it protects customer privacy and enhances the online experience by weeding out ads that don’t matter to people.
In his letter, Gerke repeated the company’s claims that the test didn’t generate or use any information that would personally identify a specific customer.
“The only data during the test consisted of codes representing categories of interest that were derived anonymously via software,” he wrote. “Once the test was complete, all such data that had not otherwise expired was destroyed.”
Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, wrote the original letter questioning Embarq over the test, asking how customers were told about the test and whether they could avoid participating.
Gerke said the company posted a two-paragraph notice about the potential use of anonymous surfing habits for advertising purposes on its Web site in a section describing…