[IP] Common Sense for Online Profiling and Privacy

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

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From: Peter Swire [peter@peterswire.net]
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 11:35 AM
To: David Farber
Subject: Common Sense for Online Profiling and Privacy

Dave:

Perhaps for IP, a column published today at Science Progress on choice and online profiling.  Perhaps especially relevant in light of Facebook’s decision to give stronger choice on Beacon:

“Online advertising has exploded in recent months, both in business terms and in concerns about the effect of new ad technologies on privacy. There has been a wave of proposed or actual mergers led by Google Inc., the biggest online search and text advertising company, which is seeking to merge with DoubleClick Inc., the biggest display ad company.

To try to learn about these emerging technologies, the Federal Trade Commission recently held a Town Hall event<http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/ehavioral/index.shtml>. The event produced little consensus. Privacy advocates criticized the new types of online profiling. Industry mostly explained why profiling is good because people will see only the ads for things they are interested in.

At the Town Hall, along with my written testimony<http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/10/privacy.html>, I proposed a common-sense test for what should happen—individuals should have a realistic way to choose not to be profiled when they go online.

. . . .

In the long run, the press and the political system are likely to push back whenever detailed profiling becomes a mandatory part of surfing the Web. It is common sense to build user-friendly systems from the start.”

http://www.scienceprogress.org/2007/12/we-are-the-web/

Peter

Prof. Peter P. Swire
C. William O'Neil Professor of Law
   Moritz College of Law
   The Ohio State University
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
(240) 994-4142, www.peterswire.net

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