Lawmakers Go After Consumer Behavior-Based Ads

The push for proper net neutrality legislation has, at least temporarily, run aground following a decision from a Federal Appeals Court that said the FCC had no authority to regulate service providers. But the fight for consumer rights on the Web doesn't stop with slapping Comcast on the wrist for blocking BitTorrent. A collection of 11 consumer advocacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Consumer Action, is pressing the government to pass laws limiting the type of consumer information companies can track and also to require that said companies allow users to disable the invasive features.

The coalition of groups wants companies to quickly inform consumers when personal information is being collected, what's specifically collected and how they plan to use that data. The groups also want consumers to have the ability to request to see any data a company has collected about them and have the option to correct or remove any information as they see fit. Particularly sensitive data like social security numbers, health and financial records, race, sexual orientation or political activity would be barred from tracking.

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[Source: Switched]