IP Democracy: Internet Companies Worry About Your Privacy

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow about Internet advertising and privacy. The concern over online "behavioral advertising," which closely links a user's Internet activity to targeted pitches, will receive a particularly close examination.

But based on the written statements from top Internet company executives who will testify, all is well and we have little to fear. Our privacy is secure because these companies work hard to protect it. In other words, the written testimonies from the corporate witnesses are par for the course (although NebuAd's Bob Dykes explains in a fairly detailed way how his company's controversial ad system works -- kind of interesting.)

Snapshots from the written statements:

Google Senior Privacy Counsel Jane Horvath (PDF ) :

With every Google product, we work hard to earn and keep that trust with a long-standing commitment to protect the privacy of our users’ personal information. We make privacy a priority because our business depends on it. In fact, if our users are uncomfortable with how we manage their personal information, they are only one click away from switching to a competitor’s services. Because user trust is so critical to us, we’ve ensured that privacy considerations are deeply embedded in our culture.

Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer, Facebook (PDF ):

Advertising products founded on the principles of transparency and user control, where data is collected directly from users in personally identifiable space and targeting is done based on aggregate or characteristic data in non-personally identifiable space, respect the principle that sits at the heart of privacy concerns. (Ed. note: not exactly sure what this means.)

Michael Hintze, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation (no PDF because the written statement is 63 pages and too large for uploading/downloading.)

Microsoft recognizes that the protection of consumer privacy is a continuous journey and not a single destination. We can and will continue to develop and implement new privacy practices and protections to bring the benefits of transparency, choice and security to customers.

Bob Dykes, CEO, NebuAd (PDF ):

As a result, NebuAd's service is designed so that no one - not even the government - can determine the identity of our users. That means our service for ISP users, including the ad optimization and serving system, does not collect or use any PII. In addition, NebuAd requires its Internet service provider ("ISP") partners to provide robust, advance notice about our operations and our privacy protections to their subscribers, who at any time can exercise their choice not to participate. And, finally, we have located our servers in highly secure data centers.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 8, 2008 8:56 PM to IP Democracy