Internet service providers would have to obtain consumers' opt-in consent before sending them targeted ads based on their Web-surfing activity, under a proposal unveiled today by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler . "Every broadband consumer should have the right to know what information is being collected and how it is used," Wheeler said Thursday in a piece published on the Huffington Post. "Every broadband consumer should have the right to choose how their information bits are should be used and shared." "This is not to say network providers shouldn’t be able to use information they collect …

Verizon has agreed to settle a Federal Communications Commission probe by paying a $1.35 million fine for using "supercookies" to track mobile customers for ad-targeting purposes.