Mediaboss Marketing

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday urged Congress to enact Internet privacy laws that would force data brokers to reveal what information they buy and sell about consumers.

In a wide-ranging report that also supports self-regulatory efforts by businesses, the FTC stopped short of supporting laws that would mandate anti-tracking buttons on Web sites a proposal that Internet advertisers have lobbied hard to keep out of legislation.

The report largely mirrors similar proposals made last month by the White House and highlights a growing consensus among federal officials that consumers need stronger protection for their online privacy.

Over the past year, the FTC has cracked down on Google and Facebook for allegedly exposing user data when launching new products. The agency said that cellphone applications present new privacy challenges: Legal statements are unclear and too hard to read on small screens and companies such as Apple and Google do not force developers to post notices in app stores.

After two years of intense debate between powerful companies and privacy advocates, the FTCs recommendations were a relief to businesses that hope to use consumer data to customize advertising based on a users likes and dislikes without strict government rules.

We wanted not to erect a stop light for businesses but to take a closer look at traffic patterns, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said during a news conference.

Much of the 73-page report focused on the need for companies to clearly explain how they collect data about users and for what purposes they use that information.

The FTC called for legislation on data brokers the Web's information middlemen, such as Lexis Nexis and Choicepoint who take data that has been collected online and merge the information with documents offline to create detailed portraits of consumers.

The brokers sell a wealth of highly personal information about consumers but never interact directly with them, according to the report. Consumers are often unaware of the existence of these entities, as well as the purposes for which they collect and use data.

The FTC said a law should allow consumers to see what those portraits would look like . And the agency said that data brokers should be forced to reveal their data-collection practices.

Original post:
FTC urges transparency law for Internet data brokers