Internet service providers engaged in the tracking of user behavioral patterns are backpedaling in the wake of a new Congressional inquiry into the privacy issues surrounding such practices.
In a letter addressing questions from members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, David Hantman, Yahoo’s vice president of global policy, said his company realizes that some Web surfers would prefer not to receive customized online ads. As a result, the search engine giant will allow consumers to decline ads based on the tracking of their online behavior at Yahoo.com.
“We want to offer them transparency and choice about the options that are available to them,” Hantman explained. “This is in addition to our existing opt-out when Yahoo serves customized advertising on third-party networks.”
When Yahoo serves up ads for partners such as eBay or a consortium of nearly 800 newspapers, users can choose to opt-out of receiving customized ads, either by clicking on a link posted on the ad itself or at the partner site, Hantman noted. “We believe this is particularly important, since it is not always obvious to all users that ads are served by different entities among Web sites.”
Trial Runs
Three broadband providers have informed the Subcommittee that they had recently run trials of a new technology known as deep-packet inspection, which tracks and stores information about the online behavior of individual Web users. CenturyTel and Knology said their respective trials of NebuAd’s controversial tracking software came to an end about the same time that Congress began to scrutinize such practices.
For its part, Cable One claimed that the trials it ran late last year were conducted in a manner “consistent with the terms of the provider’s existing customer notices and Acceptable Use Policy, which our customers must expressly accept to activate their broadband Internet access service.”
Charter Communications,…