If you think the Internet is an escape where an anonymous Web surfer can cruise through stock options or even buy DVDs online unnoticed, you’re wrong.
Someone, somewhere is probably watching, a notion which has rubbed privacy and security advocates in Michigan and Washington, D.C. the wrong way.
Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm has threatened legal action against several Web sites, stating they violated the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, punishable by a $25,000 fine.
Chris DeWitt, communications director for the attorney general, said the potential of obtaining such information and selling it to marketers or other parties is a threat to consumers.
“Cookies in and of themselves are not a bad thing,” DeWitt said. “But when you’ve got people in companies placing these cookies onto your computer and not notifying you before hand, it’s a violation of privacy.”
The type of information gathering DeWitt spoke of has been deemed a “Web bug.” According to experts, these bugs are infesting the Internet.
A “Web bug” works somewhat like a hidden microphone planted in a Web site. A tiny graphic is coded to register information from your browser, obtaining bits such as when you signed on, what link sent you there, and which browser you’re using. A bug can also snag cookies, which are small text files recorded in a user’s hard drive.
Frank Biocca, a telecommunication professor, expressed concern over the lack of anonymity the Internet offers and the lack of legislation to curtail the use of consumer information.
“When we collect survey data here at the university, there’s a tremendous effort made to keep it anonymous,” Biocca said. “The Internet is for private behavior, done inside the home or office, not for public observation or scrutiny.
“It’s surprising that legislation has not been enacted yet.”
DeWitt agrees.
“It’s really a matter of notification,” DeWitt said. “Do you want to allow a company to track what you’re doing?”
Marketers using this data say that thanks to bugs and cookies, advertising and news shown to you can be better targeted, showing an Internet user only what information interests them.
Along the same philosophy of Granholm, U.S. Sen. Spence Abraham, R-Auburn Hills, has co-sponsored a bill requiring Web sites to notify Internet-users of what information is being gathered. The U.S. Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation will hold hearings on this legislation in the next few weeks.
Computer science junior Robert Berryman said the idea of other companies gathering information is annoying, but it’s not enough to keep him off the Internet or from buying online.
“I don’t think it’s really right if marketers are targeting online users, then giving their information to other companies,” Berryman said. “If they’re just looking to see if I’m responding to ads or whether I’m using Internet Explorer, then I don’t have a problem.”
