Congress Targets "Behavioral Ads"

BY Nancy Scola | Friday, April 24 2009

Flickr Photo Download: Rick Boucher (seated) The House Judiciary subcommittee with jurisdiction over Internet practices held a hearing this week that -- if Congress' history is any guide to its future -- may well mark the start of congressional handwringing over how companies like Google and others are using geo-targeting, search histories, and other markers to serve up customized advertisements. Critics (and some advocates) call it "behavioral advertising."

And Congress' interest is particularly relevant for us here because targeting Google advertisements based on what you're searching for, the websites you visit, and where you're surfing from is quickly becoming a standard political online practice. We saw it most recently with the battle over the Employee Free Choice Act, detailed here. It's a tool in the toolbox of nearly all online campaigners these days.

Virginia Democrat Rick Boucher is the chair of the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. This week, he called together a session to examine what's known as deep packet inspection (DPI), which is peeking into the contents of the chunks of information that flow across the Internet so that decisions can be made about how to route them or, in some cases, about how to customize the end users Internet experience based on what they do online and how they do it. Taking a look at the envelopes that Internet data travels in is widely accepted practice. Steaming them open to see what's inside isn't -- yet.

That's why Boucher called the hearing, to examine whether legislation is needing to stave off DPI misuses of DPI before they come into widespread use. He called that prospect "nothing short of frightening."

But it's Round Two of the Boucher hearings that should perk the ears of online practitioners. At this week's hearing, Boucher announced his intention to hold a follow-up session this summer, in collaboration with the House Energy's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, that will focus on the privacy risks raised by behavioral advertising. Google and other online advertising companies are expected to be invited to attend. Boucher is no Internet naive, but the current fuzziness surrounding behavioral ads seem to make him uneasy. As he said at the hearing, "a range of concerns related to online advertising should be vetted."

Boucher's promised that the result of the series of hearing will be legislation aimed at "extending to Internet users [the] assurance that their online experience is more secure." In the name of self interest, if your business or your campaign makes use of targeted online ads, this is one congressional thread worth following.

(Photo of Rick Boucher by joebeone)

News Briefs

RSS Feed yesterday >

This Week, Cory Booker's Social Media Savvy Just Wasn't Enough

In a look back at Newark Mayor Cory Booker's tough week, Maggie Haberman and Emily Schultheis write that what hurt him the most was his "tortured-looking YouTube reversal." On Meet the Press on Sunday, Booker said that Obama campaign attacks that positioned Mitt Romney as a habitual employee-terminator were "nauseating" in their polarization and treatment of private equity. For the Democratic Newark mayor, criticizing the president's campaign strategy meant the week took a sharp downhill turn. GO

Changing Winds for Open Data at the National Weather Service

The National Weather Service is going to update its weather alerts for the 21st century. Weather data has long been held up as a prime example of how government data can spur private enterprise, as an entire industry has evolved to interpret and package meteorological data coming from government sources. Now, the Weather Service is updating how it offers up that data for a next-generation weather industry. GO

As Government Moves To The Cloud, Software Industry Forms Group To Adapt To New IT Policies

A software and information industry group on Friday unveiled a new board of directors for its new Public Sector Innovation Group, which aims to help members learn more about the federal government's new way of managing its information technology resources and procurement processes. GO

On Change.org, a Big-Name Call for Dimon's Ouster from New York Fed

The International Monetary Fund's former Chief Economist Simon Johnson is using Change.org to build support for his position that JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon must resign from the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Johnson, a British economist who's a longtime professor at MIT, established the petition on Wednesday. Since then, more than 3,000 people have signed on to support his position. GO

Howard Rheingold on Congress, Digital Literacy, and Making Political Movements

From Congress to the classroom, digital literacy is a key skill that's often sorely lacking, Howard Rheingold, author of the new book "Net Smart: How to Thrive Online," said on Thursday's Personal Democracy Plus call — but there are ways to change that.

Rheingold derided "the degree of technological ignorance" in government and in particular Congress. "It's worse than ignorance," he said. "It's know-nothingness ... it's so endemic." During the fight over the Stop Online Piracy Act, members of Congress could often be heard pleading their ignorance of the Internet and its inner workings even as debating legislation that some said would alter the structure of the global communications network.

The call, moderated by TechPresident editorial director Micah Sifry, was recorded and is available online here.

Should U.N. Politics Affect the Internet?

A key U.S. House subcommittee plans on examining the implications of the U.S. ceding control of key aspects of the global Internet infrastructure next Thursday. The House Energy and Commerce's subcommittee on Communications and Technology announced Wednesday that it's going to hold a hearing on proposals at the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union to afford more control over Internet governance to countries other than the United States. GO

wednesday >

This Isn't What Political Air Time Usually Means

MoveOn.org is asking supporters for $150,000 in donations to fly a plane above high-dollar fundraisers for Mitt Romney with "a message that reminds voters how he represents his corporate and 1% donors." MoveOn previously hired a plane to fly over Romney's Liberty University graduation speech with the message "GOP = HIGHER SCHOOL DEBT." GO

There's a New $200 Million Fund for Super-High-Speed Broadband Projects

An initiative to build and test gigabit-speed broadband networks is set to fund up to six next-generation Internet access projects across the country, fueled by a new $200 million broadband development funding program, Gigabit Squared and Gig.U announced this morning. GO

Online Organizing

WeGov

GOP 2012

Obama 2012