Over the last few weeks, we’ve watched the saga unfold as Web tracking company NebuAd and several of its ISP partners have been at the center of a $5million class action lawsuit claiming privacy violations. The lawsuit, filed by 15 angry online consumers whose Web traffic was tracked in detail by NebuAd’s technology, claims that the company and its partners have violated anti-wiretapping statutes by capturing users' online communications without giving adequate notice or getting consent.
As the case has developed, several news stories popped up which made me want to jump to my feet and claim, “Objection, your honor!”
These stories have headlines that pose the question, “Can one lawsuit kill the entire behavioral targeting industry?”
The short answer is: no, because NebuAd is NOT a behavioral targeting company. Wired News goes so far as to call them a “Net eavesdropping firm.”
NebuAd’s technology crossed the privacy line by making the data anonymous only after it was gathered, as opposed to a behavioral targeting company, which never knows who you are in the first place. The information gathered here was far deeper than a BT company would ever go.
Across the Atlantic, Phorm is experiencing a similar backlash for selling users’ browsing history to advertisers without the users’ knowledge.
But they are being lumped in with legitimate, above board BT providers simply because they fall under the broad umbrella of monitoring Web behavior. Journalists covering the story have the responsibility to make the distinction between a Web tracking firm and a behavioral targeting company, but as an industry, this makes it even more incumbent upon us to proactively tackle consumer education where privacy is concerned.
“Can one lawsuit kill the entire behavioral targeting industry?”
i think that is impossible. nice post btw.
like it