• New York Times , Thursday, November 1, 2007 12:30 PM

The advertising industry will watch with bated breath as the Federal Trade Commission holds key talks today and tomorrow about online privacy. Among the scariest issues being raised is a proposed Do-Not-Track Registry, which like the Do-Not-Call registry that keeps out telemarketers, would allow Web users to opt out of being followed around by behavioral tracking programs online. Separately, Time Warner's AOL yesterday volunteered to let users opt-out of the tracking programs deployed across its content and publisher networks.

The FTC's decision to review online privacy comes in the wake of several acquisitions by major Web firms that would enable them to better track consumer activity and deliver more relevant advertising. Tracking today is done anonymously, but the FTC and industry watchdogs worry that consolidation and technological enhancements could lead to a future where marketers know exactly who they're marketing to.

Of course the major question is whether or not consumers care. Is tracking as much of a nuisance as say, a telemarketing call? For watchdogs, the nuisance factor is less of a problem than the "Big Brother" factor. They say the growing trend towards behavior-based advertising is becoming a little too scary. For example, the Times interviews a woman shown ads for healthcare products alongside an email exchange about the recent death of his grandmother. In a word: tasteless. Perhaps standards, at the very least, need to be established.

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