Boucher on Privacy

House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet Chairman Rick Boucher (D-VA) thinks a key to economic growth is online commerce, so he's trying to promote targeted advertising on the Web to get people to open their wallets and spur the creation of more small Internet companies selling goods and services. To that end, he's planning to wade into the controversial issue of behavioral advertising with a bill he'll circulate to other lawmakers before the end of the month that's a mix of different processes for how companies can track information about users. In a recent interview, Rep Boucher talked about a range of issues, including net neutrality and broadband deployment to rural areas. "FCC Chairman [Julius] Genachowski is absolutely right to introduce new principles for an open Internet," he said, adding that Blair Levin, head of the broadband national planning process at the agency is doing a "terrific job." As for his own push for privacy, he said his bill will set guidelines for users and companies that attempts to be a "measured approach" to the contentious issue.