By Diane Bartz
"It is critical that Google's and DoubleClick's policies
and procedures for handling this information be transparent,
and that every effort is made to protect consumers' data,"
Texas Rep. Joe Barton wrote in a letter to the company dated
May 21.
In the letter, Barton asked if and how data collected by
Google and DoubleClick about computer users would be merged and
how the data would be used, and if Google planned to continue
allowing users to opt out of ad-serving cookies.
Privacy advocates have expressed concern that a wave of
consolidation in online advertising would lead to a
concentration of personal information in the hands of a few
powerful companies.
The lucrative online advertising industry has prompted a
string of deals in recent months.
Barton also asked Google why a new technology to identify
who should receive which ads would retain the IP address and
user ID, or browser ID.
Schmidt and Barton met in November, and two of Barton's
aides went to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California
in December to discuss privacy.
"We have had a constructive ongoing dialogue with Rep.
Barton's staff about our privacy practices, and while the
integration of DoubleClick into Google is still underway, we
will of course respond to his questions," Google spokesman Adam
Kovacevich said in an e-mailed response to questions about the
letter.
Barton asked Google to reply to his questions by June 6.
Consolidation in the industry has included Google's
acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.4 billion, Microsoft Corp's
$6 billion deal for aQuantive and Yahoo's purchase of
BlueLithium for $300 million. Time Warner Inc's AOL unit also
bought Tacoda for an undisclosed amount.
Google has been in talks with Yahoo regarding a possible
advertising deal between them.
(Editing by Toni Reinhold)
0 comments:
Post a Comment