Lawmakers Concerned About Charter’s Web Tracking
Cable TV, phone and Web service provider Charter Communications drew concern Friday from two congressmen and a privacy advocate by its plan to experiment with tracking its customers’ Web use in collaboration with an online advertising firm.
Charter has told its high-speed Net customers in four markets about the pilot, which will produce abundant info for Web advertisers to target online advertising for individual customers based on their habits.
The ads “will better reflect the interests you express through your Web-surfing activity,” Charter senior vice president Joe Stackhouse told the affected subscribers in a letter. “You will not see more ads — just ads that are more relevant to you.”
In response to the announcement, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) asked Charter President and Chief Executive Neil Smit to put the plan on hold until the three can confer.
The tracking is set to start in June in Ft. Worth, Texas; San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Oxford,
Jeff Chester of the consumer rights organization Center for Digital Democracy criticized the plan and said it would be the first of its kind among major Net service providers.
“Charter has moved into the front lines in the battle by ensuring privacy online,” Chester said. “There is a huge concern about Web sites and search engine companies tracking what public do.”
Stackhouse told customers their personal knowledge will remain confidential.
Subscribers can opt out of the tracking, though they must supply their name and address to install an opt-out cookie on their computer.
Chester said Charter should instead offer subscribers the ability to opt in whether they want to participate.
Online ad firm NebuAd is partnering with St. Louis-based Charter to do the tracking. Charter, the nation’s fourth-largest cable TV company, is controlled by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
NebuAd, based in Redwood City, Calif., wouldn’t say last…
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