Kerry-McCain Bill Must Reexamine Privacy Issue

[Commentary] Senators Kerry and McCain recently unveiled legislation, "The Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011," is the latest attempt to strike a balance between protecting Americans' privacy online while fostering the continued growth of our economy and, specifically, of the online advertising and marketing industry. That's no small task, as consumers' and companies' -- indeed, the world's -- reliance upon the Internet and computers for communication increases.

One of the most pressing issues to be tackled is the act of behavioral targeting, or BT, as it is called in the business. To many, the use of BT by marketers and others threatens a basic principle Americans hold dear: the right to privacy. The Kerry-McCain bill proposes a limit on marketers' ability to collect and share information about consumers without distinguishing between the type of information being collected: personally identifiable information (PII) or non-personally identifiable information (non-PII). That is a problem. Making a blanket statement about what is considered "private" data can be crushing to the industry and our economy. The reality is that not all tracking poses a serious problem for consumers. BT marketing is crucial to the growth of advertising and marketing. To eliminate it completely would not only harm advertisers' ability to communicate effectively to consumers, but also rob prospective consumers of a more relevant and user friendly Web surfing experience. [Minichini is president, interactive marketing, TargetCast tcm]