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Congress keen to know extent of website monitoring | | 2008/08/20 | | It has emerged that a large cable operator in the US - Phoenix-based Cable One - has carried out a lengthy trial of new technology to monitor the surfing habits of web users in order to tailor advertisements to make them more relevant.
Responding to a letter signed by several members of congress and sent to 33 leading cable and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), several companies said that they had, or had planned, to instigate similar operations, Consumer Affairs reports.
The members of congress have said that any reductions in online privacy are grounds for concern as privacy is one of the foundations of freedom.
Massachusetts Democrat representative Edward J Markey told Consumer Affairs: "Online users have a right to explicitly know when their broadband provider is tracking their activity and collecting potentially sensitive and personal information.
"This sweeping ability to collect, analyse and profile how individuals use their broadband connection raises clear privacy issues and I believe such activity should occur only with the express prior consent of individual citizens."
Among the companies that the house representatives are pressing for information concerning their data collection of consumer internet use, are Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, Microsoft and Google.
However, AT&T have responded to the lawmakers' request by saying that their anxieties are without foundation as Google's online ad networks are considerably more invasive than anything the ISPs are planning. |
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