Web surfers tracked by advertisers
It shouldn’t be a surprise to them but members of Congress are learning that Google and others are tracking the surfing habits of users. The Washington Post reports:
Several Internet and broadband companies have acknowledged using targeted-advertising technology without explicitly informing customers, according to letters released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
And Google, the leading online advertiser, stated that it has begun using Internet tracking technology that enables it to more precisely follow Web-surfing behavior across affiliated sites.
The revelations came in response to a bipartisan inquiry of how more than 30 Internet companies might have gathered data to target customers. Some privacy advocates and lawmakers said the disclosures help build a case for an overarching online-privacy law.
Advertisers have been using tracking cookies for a long time so this is not new practice. What is new is the combination of Google and its recently purchased DoubleClick and also the introduction of some new technologies and practices by ISPs and other search engines.
I have often written about the various ways to defend against tracking cookies and Flash cookies. Here are some references:
- About Internet cookies
- Advanced cookie management
- Using a Customized Privacy Import File to Manage Cookies in Internet Explorer
- Persistent Identification Elements and Internet Privacy
Advertisers say that individual privacy is not at risk from tracking methods. What do you think?
Added later: I mentioned above that new tracking methods were being used. One of these is “deep packet inspection”, where an ISP looks at the content of what you are browsing. For example, the New York Times reports that AT&T wants to watch you surf:
AT&T is “carefully considering” monitoring the Web-surfing activities of customers who use its Internet service, the company said in a letter in response to an inquiry from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
While the company said it hadn’t tested such a system for monitoring display advertising viewing habits or committed to a particular technology, it expressed much more interest in the approach than the other big Internet providers who also responded to the committee’s letter.
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