CDT POLICY POST Volume 5, Number 26 November 15, 1999 A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE from THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY CONTENTS: (1) Operation Opt-Out: A New Campaign to Help Consumers Protect Their Privacy (2) First Opt-Out Feature: Online Profiling (3) FTC and Commerce Conduct Public Workshop on Online Profiling (4) Policy Post Administration _______________________________________________________________________ (1) OPERATION OPT-OUT: A NEW CAMPAIGN TO HELP CONSUMERS PROTECT THEIR PRIVACY CDT has developed a new resource for consumers to "get off the lists" - the mailing and telephone lists and profiling databases that have proliferated with the digital economy. Businesses are responding to the rising tide of privacy concerns by allowing consumers to remove their names from (or "opt-out" of) lists that share personal information. However, in many cases, it is difficult for consumers to find out how to exercise that choice: it is not easy to find all the necessary addresses and sometimes the very process of opting-out is a nuisance. In response, CDT has designed a Web site called "Operation Opt-Out" (https://opt-out.cdt.org) to help educate and empower consumers. The site includes: * A system that generates custom letters allowing consumers to opt-out. * Direct links to companies that afford the ability to opt-out online. * A "Feature" section that will change periodically, including background information on how different types of companies use consumer information and what opt-out options they offer. * General information about getting off lists, and resources for further investigation by consumers. CDT believes that consumers value their privacy and that many more would opt-out of having their personal information shared and sold if it was easier to do so. There is a debate over whether opt-out is the best way to protect privacy, but in the meantime CDT is making it as simple as possible for consumers to opt-out. _______________________________________________________________________ (2) FIRST OPT-OUT FEATURE: ONLINE PROFILING With growing frequency, information about how individuals use the Web -- the sites they visit, the search terms they use and other queries they make, their online purchases, their "click through" responses to advertisements - is being captured by advertising networks or "profiling companies." In cooperation with a Web site, but without the permission of the user, these companies place a tag on the individual's computer. This tag - or identifier - is then used to track an individual's movements surfing the Web. In addition to compiling long lists of visited sites and pages, a profile may contain "inferential" or "psychographic" data - information that the company infers about users based on their surfing habits. Some of these online profiling companies offer the ability to opt-out. However, to shed some light, the Operation Opt-Out site contains information about online profiling, and provides a central place to opt-out. All of them offer some form of opt-out, although most consumers don't even know these companies exist. CDT has a list of these profiling companies and their opt-out options at https://opt-out.cdt.org/featured/. _______________________________________________________________________ (3) FTC AND COMMERCE CONDUCT PUBLIC WORKSHOP ON ONLINE PROFILING On November 8, CDT Staff Counsel Deirdre Mulligan testified at the Public Workshop on Online Profiling held by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Commerce. The workshop explored online profiling technology; implications of online profiling technology for user privacy; and the role of self-regulation. More information on the Workshop can be found at http://www.cdt.org/privacy/FTC/profiling/ CDT's testimony detailed how many current online profiling technologies pose a significant risk to personal privacy. CDT's testimony is available at http://www.cdt.org/testimony/991108mulligan.shtml. _______________________________________________________________________ (4) POLICY POST ADMINISTRATION To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to majordomo@cdt.org In the BODY of the message type "subscribe policy-posts" without the quotes. To unsubscribe from CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to majordomo@cdt.org In the BODY of the message type "unsubscribe policy-posts" without the quotes. Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found at http://www.cdt.org/. http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.26.shtml. Excerpts may be re-posted with prior permission of ari@cdt.org Policy Post 5.26 Copyright 1999 Center for Democracy and Technology