‘Profiling’ Becomes Focal Point of Web Privacy Debate

Responding to privacy concerns about technology that enables Internet advertisers to track consumers’ Web surfing and shopping habits, the government is scheduled to hold a workshop today on a data-gathering practice known as “profiling.”

The practice has emerged as one of the most important privacy battlegrounds on the Internet, with industry leaders and privacy advocates sparring about whether the government should place strict restrictions on advertising companies that use profiling technology.

But the spreading use of profiling techniques has escaped the notice of most Web surfers, largely because it is done by companies, such as DoubleClick Corp. and MatchLogic Inc., that operate behind the scenes in cyberspace.

Such companies don’t operate mainstream Web sites of their own. Rather, they place ads for thousands of clients on hundreds of Web sites, including Yahoo and other popular online destinations.

Because they place ads on so many sites, these companies are in unique position to track consumers’ travels through cyberspace, recording when and where consumers see certain ads, as well as how they respond.

For the most part, such data have been gathered anonymously. But there is growing concern that these “clickstream” profiles of Web users can be meshed with other databases that reveal consumers’ names and other personal information.

Privacy advocates have been particularly concerned, for instance, about DoubleClick’s pending merger with catalog tracking company Abacus Direct Corp., which has names and addresses of countless consumers.

Government officials said they scheduled today’s workshop in Washington because they are troubled by the surreptitious nature of such data collection, and the potential it has to give marketers a detailed picture of consumers’ online activities and preferences.

In an effort to head off government intervention, leading Internet advertising companies last week unveiled a plan that would give consumers greater control over whether they are subjected to such data collecting.

As part of that agreement, DoubleClick, MatchLogic and eight other Internet advertising companies pledged to give consumers the ability to “opt out” of profiling databases.

They also agreed to create a Web site where consumers will be able to get more information about how much data are collected from them and how they are used (https://www.networkadvertising.org).

The proposal is modeled on the Online Privacy Alliance, a similar arrangement made last year by leading Internet companies, including Microsoft Corp. and America Online Inc.

But privacy advocates called the proposal from the Internet advertising group inadequate, and are expected to push government officials to place a moratorium on profiling until legal protections for consumers can be established.

Privacy advocates said such companies should be required to get consumers’ permission before they can gather and compile data, not merely offer Internet users the ability to “opt out.”

Further, privacy advocates said the agreement allows for little recourse by consumers when there are violations. “Self-regulation has been a shameful failure,” said Jason Catlett, president of the advocacy group Junkbusters.

More information on the workshop is available at https://www.ftc.gov.

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Times staff writer Greg Miller can be reached at greg.miller@latimes.com.