behavioral targeting Federal Trade Commission FTC online tracking privacy
EU Officials Recommend Do Not Track by Default
The International Working Group on Data Protection released a white paper on online behavioral advertising. The group of leading privacy experts from around the world noted that web tracking allows companies to "monitor every single aspect of the behavior of an identified user across websites." The Working Group also observed that the current efforts of the W3C to develop a DNT track standard could "remain a sugar pill instead of being a proper cure and would such be useless." The Working Group recommended "the default setting should be such that the user is not tracked" and that there be no invisible tracking of users. Senator Rockefeller, the Commerce Committee Chairman, has introduced legislation to regulate the commercial surveillance of consumers online. For more information, see EPIC: Online Tracking and Behavioral Advertising and EPIC: Federal Trade Commission.