Three major Internet service providers have promised Congress that they do not monitor their customers’ activities online. However -- in an argument worthy of the political venue in which it was made -- executives from these companies went on to equivocate: not that they do monitor users -- at least not to a gratuitous level. If they did, though, they were under no obligation to say so. However, if they should decide to monitor customers in the future, they would promise to adhere to certain rules of the road -- set by themselves. In other words, they told the legislators: There’s no need for the federal government to step in and regulate, as we will do it for you.
Offering to self-regulate a business practice as Congress prepares to hand down its own rules is a time-honored and often successful practice on the part of businesses throughout every sector in the U.S. economy. The Internet is proving to be no exception; indeed, as Web technologies continue to evolve and infiltrate consumers’ lives in unexpected ways, it is fair to assume that Thursday’s testimony before the Senate subcommittee will be repeated on a regular basis.
Executives from AT&T (NYSE: T) , Verizon and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) spoke at a hearing on whether ISPs track their customers’ usage on the Internet -- and then sell that information to advertisers. It is a practice called "behavioral targeting," and it has become the focus of people worried about consumer privacy. Read more...
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