Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
A coalition of privacy and consumer groups last week called on the federal government to create the Internet equivalent of a “do not call” list.

They want a “do not track” list to prohibit marketing firms from tracking Web surfers’ habits and preferences, according to Wired magazine.

The ethical issue at stake is the balance between good business — profits from personalized pitches based on surfers’ Internet tracks — and privacy, reports the Boston Herald.

Web marketers currently use vast databases to fuel the $20-billion online advertising business.

Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, one of the groups calling for the list, told the San Francisco Chronicle that data collection amounts to “wholesale commercial surveillance.”

He also argued that consumers generally are unaware of how much information is compiled about their surfing habits.

“What they see, what they do, what kind of searches they do is all harvested, tabulated, and spread across the vast media without consent,” Chester said.

In related news, the head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week warned Internet marketing firms that they should start posting more conspicuous details about how much information is gathered from Web surfers and how it will be used. FTC commissioner Jon Leibowitz said the government does not intend to enforce such privacy rules “at this point,” but he left the door open for government lawsuits if there is continued evidence of “problematic practices,” reports technology news service CNET.