Private eyes are watching you (surf the Web)

[Commentary] The ease and speed with which people can share information over the Internet is perhaps the marvel of this era. The way they live and work is changing rapidly, posing new opportunities and new hazards. One area undergoing massive change is personal privacy. Fluid exchanges of information mean that more knowledge about people's lives can be shared than they realize or desire. Facebook and Google are two Web giants that have recently faced criticism for playing fast and loose with information about their users. The development of computerized data banks - such as those storing credit-card information, medical records, or store "loyalty card" buying habits - continues to erode personal privacy.

Now several US lawmakers and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are raising concerns about the need to better regulate the way that websites, and the advertisers on them, place tracking data on the computers of visitors. Called "cookies," "beacons," "pixels," or just "Web bugs," these programs operate behind the scenes to record not only which pages are visited on that site but continue to track and report back on the user's subsequent visits to other sites. But before restrictive rules or legislation is considered, the online advertising industry ought to be given a chance to better regulate itself. Transparency and openness should be keystones in creating any policy on Web tracking. Websites need to prominently display simple, clear information on how users can opt out of being tracked. Sites should also explain in simple layman's language (no legal mumbo jumbo) what information they will otherwise collect, how it will be used, and with whom they will share it. If the industry refuses to broadly adopt clear, consistent, and reasonable standards of its own, Congress and federal regulators may have to step in.