Stressing the consumer value of free Internet services and the value of industry self regulation, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has sent a letter urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to stay out of the privacy debate when making plans in national broadband legislation.
“While we support efforts to encourage broadband deployment and adoption, we have concerns with addressing privacy issues in this proceeding. There is no record of actual consumer harm arising from general privacy concerns, especially as they relate to online behavioral advertising,” wrote Mike Zaneis, VP, public policy at the IAB, in the letter.
“To the extent that consumers have legitimate privacy concerns, we believe that self-regulation offers the best avenue to ensure that consumers enjoy protections as they utilize the dynamic Internet ecosystem funded by advertisements.”
The letter was sent in response to a request that comments be made on behavioral targeting. In September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who has been investigating behavioral targeting for more than 2 years now, encouraged the FCC to get involved.
The industry groups are pushing for less government intervention and a more proactive self regulation approach. Consumer groups, including the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), are pushing for more government regulation.
