FTC's New Privacy Report Endorses a "Do Not Track" Mechanism for Online Consumers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its long-awaited privacy report today. The report is the result of earlier FTC privacy roundtables that solicited input from varied parties on consumer privacy in light of new technologies being used by companies and consumers, especially online.

One of the main focuses of the FTC's report is online behavioral advertising, which is, essentially the generation of extremely detailed profiles on consumers in order to create advertisements targeted toward that consumer's interests.

The FTC report highlights the idea of the creation of a standard "Do Not Track" mechanism that would allow individuals to restrict the flow of their personal data to advertisers.

It will be interesting to see how consumers, advertisers and companies react to the proposals in the FTC report. The report is definitely worth reading for anyone involved with online advertising, marketing or merchandising.