The NY Times weighs in on regulating behavioral targeting. Oh, joy.

I don’t know if consumer privacy in online advertising is an idea whose time has come or if it’s just coincidence that this New York Times article on consumer tracking and privacy protection happened across my reader this weekend. But, it seems clear that media is beginning to take notice of all the ways in which advertisers take notice of their customers [all emphasis mine]:

“On the way out, consumer advocates say, is that quaint old notion of informed consent, in which a company clearly notifies you of its policies and gives you the choice of whether to opt in (rather than having you opt out once you discover your behavior is being tracked).

The Times then looks at the Interactive Advertising Bureau and F.T.C.’s published guidelines for protecting consumers’ privacy. But, as the article notes:

The problem is, the F.T.C.’s guidelines are merely recommendations. Corporations can choose to follow them — or not. And the online advertising standards don’t apply to off-line techniques like observation in stores…

In a country where we have a comprehensive federal law — the Fair Credit Reporting Act — giving us the right to obtain and correct financial data collected about us, no general federal statute requires behavioral data marketers to show us our files, says Ms. Rich of the F.T.C.

For me, this is the money quote:

‘The U.S. system with regard to privacy is not working,’ Mr. Rotenberg says.”

Since I regularly emphasize the importance of a strong call-to-action, that sounds like the beginnings of a call for (stronger) regulation. In fact, legislation is under discussion right now. Will advertisers – and that includes me and you – take the lead on this? Or will we leave it to the government to tell us what we can and can’t do?

Personally, I recommend the guidelines I’d mentioned last week. But I suspect it’s increasingly likely we’ve yet to hear the final word on this topic.

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