• June 25, 2007

The Federal Trade Commission will conduct at least one "town hall meeting" this fall to explore issues involved with behavioral targeting as raised in a complaint from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Center for Digital Democracy.

That news came in a letter from the FTC's Lydia Parnes last week to the groups, who originally petitioned the FTC last November to explore the consumer privacy implications of behavioral marketing.

"While the town hall meetings are a good first step, the FTC should use this opportunity to present a series of proposed safeguards and to gather additional critical information about industry's cutting-edge data-tracking practices," said Amina Fazlullah, staff attorney for U.S. PIRG.

I believe that "the FTC is still lagging in its understanding about how digital marketing practices threatens our privacy online. While such 'town halls' are useful for the public, the so-called 'expert' agency designated to protect our privacy should be ready to recommend safeguards -- not urge more investigation," said Jeff Chester, exec director of the Center for Digital Democracy.