Hearing -- Communications Networks And Consumer Privacy: Recent Developments (Updated)

In the last year, AT&T has emerged as an outspoken critic of online behavioral advertising practices. But the telecom itself is an advertising client of behavioral targeting company Audience Science.

Congress put cable TV operators on notice that it will scrutinize their plans to roll out targeted advertising to viewers, questioning whether they will use set-top boxes sitting in millions of homes to monitor and store what people watch.

The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing Thursday focusing on technologies that network operators utilize to monitor consumer usage and how those technologies intersect with consumer privacy.

As the impact of digital advertising on consumer privacy comes under scrutiny, AT&T is taking a stance in support of stricter standards. In its testimony Thursday at a House subcommittee hearing on the issue, the telecommunications heavyweight is expected to advocate more transparency and consumer control in the fast-growing field of targeted ads.

House Communications, Internet and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) has scheduled a April 23 hearing on Communications Networks and Consumer Privacy.