Internet Ad Tracking Is Questioned By U.S. Lawmakers

The internet can be a dangerous, and scary place at times. If an ad isn’t trying to get you to punch a kangaroo for a Xbox 360, then someone is stealing your identity and buying their own video game console. There’s internet predators, phishers, malware, a chance that the FBI might show up to your house because of illegal downloads, and the list could go on and on. With all these scary things, one would think we could atleast have the solace that our Internet Service Providers (ISPs) aren’t spying on us? Or are they?

This is the question that US lawmakers are asking some of the major internet companies. They want to know if they are tracking the visits of their customers to provide a more unique ad experience. The House Energy & Commerce Committee is in charge of the investigation, and have sent out letters to various major ISPs.

“We are interested in the nature and extent to which you engage in such practices, and the impact it could have on consumer privacy”, was one of the excerpts from the letter. Representatives of both AT&T, and Verizon have made general responses that they will answer the letter as soon as possible.

This isn’t the first time that internet privacy has shown up this past year, in relation to ISPs. Charter Communications was planning on implementing an ad tracking service with a partnership with advertising company, NebuAd. The plan was that through tracking consumers’ online surfing, they could provide a more personal ad experience. The program was eventually scrapped, due to privacy concerns.