• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, September 22, 2009

For any ad execs who long for the days before the Web made it possible for consumers to create and distribute media themselves, Initiative’s Bant Breen offered some consolation. Speaking at a panel about whether Madison Avenue still has a future, Breen told the audience that beyond all of the user-generated content is “a ton of data” that can be mined. PHD’s Scott Hagedorn agreed, chiming in that all of the data that used to come from research panels is “now out there for free.”

Of course, this consumer data -- or some of it, anyway -- might not be available for the free taking forever, given that policymakers are debating whether to impose new privacy regulations. While no one is proposing an outright ban on most forms of online data collection, some advocates say that companies shouldn’t amass information about consumers without first notifying them in advance and allowing them to have a say in the matter.