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On-line Tracking Tools Facing Increased Legal and Regulatory Scrutiny
Tools that track Internet users’ whereabouts are becoming more heavily scrutinized in the United States. At least six lawsuits seeking class-action status have been recently filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California claiming that companies are violating the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by creating advertising technology that installs online-tracking tools to hack into users’ computers without their knowledge. Although courts have in the past ruled that “cookies” could be placed on computers, the claimants argue that modern tracking tools are more sophisticated than the early cookies. Cookies can be used to track users across websites, thus compiling a profile of a user’s browsing.
Two bills have also been introduced into the House of Representatives to restrict the practice of on-line tracking. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission is expected to issue new privacy guidelines and is considering a system whereby users could opt out of behavioural targeting (similar to opt out mechanisms for telemarketing).
On the other hand, the $23 billion online advertising industry argues that tracking tools help subsidize content allowing many websites to be free to users.
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