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| Posted: July 15, 2008 |
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How much information should online advertisers and Web site operators know about you? And how should they be able to use this information? Congress is trying to establish rules so that the rights of both online users and advertisers are protected. |
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| W. Roberts of Tucson, Ariz., asks: |
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| My question for Ms. Harris: Isn't it a user's responsibility for maintaining their security? My question for Mr. Crews: Why should I have to opt out of getting ads in the first place? If I'm interested in a product, I'll ask about it. |
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| Leslie Harris responds: |
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 This is why user education is so important. Not all users are experts, and they deserve to have their privacy protected just as much as anyone else. By ensuring that practices are transparent and receive affirmative consent from users, we can make sure that users know what is happening on their connections, and have the option of taking measures to protect their security. |
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| Wayne Crews responds: |
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 People are exposed to ads they don't explicitly request all the time in the course of everyday life. Ever take a bus, watch network television or read a newspaper? Advertisements might not induce people to buy a specific product every time, and they might even be downright annoying sometimes. But advertising is a massive industry, in large part because building brand awareness is essential in promoting sales of a new product and creating wealth-including free services on the Internet. Some people are especially averse to ads, and power to them. That's why the marketplace has generated so many powerful tools to allow Internet users to avoid ads. With AdBlock and CookieSafe, it's easy to browse the Web without noticing any ads. Just as you can grab a TiVo if you want to skip television ads, you can often easily "skip" online ads without much difficulty. There is no reason to cripple an important industry by cutting off access to millions of consumers. |
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Forum Introduction
