Republicans: "Consumer Data A Natural Resource"

New regulations that cut down on the number of targeted ads delivered to Web users could cripple the online advertising industry, several Republican lawmakers said. "When it comes to privacy protections in the online space, is there an issue industry can't correct on their own?" said Representative Pete Olson, a Texas Republican. "If there's a problem industry can't correct without negative impact on jobs ... can the government correct these problems?"

Consumer data should be treated like a "natural resource," said Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican. Consumer information "really is the life blood of a thriving Internet economy," she said. "Should we allow our free market to explore this natural resource and learn to commercialize it, protect it and respect it, or are we going to restrict it altogether?"

Other lawmakers questioned whether self-regulation efforts would give consumers as much privacy protections as they want. Online companies are rolling out a new privacy "outrage" every week, said Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican.

"I think it's time that the Congress of the United States pass a strong, explicit privacy protection law," he said. "Enough is enough."

Online users expect privacy, added Representative G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat. A 2009 survey found that nearly two-thirds of US residents don't want targeted ads, and 86 percent don't want ads targeted through tracking across multiple websites, he noted.
We don't want tailored advertising

"One thing is clear: Consumers aren't clamoring for tailored advertising," he said.

While Woolley and Scott Meyer, CEO of online ad compliance vendor Evidon, questioned the need for new regulations, a representative of Microsoft called for Congress to pass a "baseline" privacy law.

But self-regulation, consumer education and technology tools should also play a part in protecting consumer privacy, said Michael Hintze, Microsoft's associate general counsel. "Self-regulatory efforts are generally better than prescriptive legislation to keep pace with evolving technologies," he said.

With major new privacy legislation unlikely to pass, online companies could take steps to improve privacy protections, said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. Current self-regulatory efforts focused on consumer tracking could be improved by adding oversight boards with consumer members, by adding meaningful sanctions for noncompliance, and by promoting complaint procedures, she said.

Many consumers don't understand how much data online companies are collecting about them, Dixon said. "Consumers just don't know what the risks out there are," she said. "It'd be very challenging for a consumer to simply keep up with everything that's going on" with online tracking.

This is from ComputerWorld. By Grant Gross | IDG News Service | Published 15:33, 14 October 11