By Peter Kaplan
Senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
wrote to broadband Internet providers and other online
companies on Friday, asking whether they have "tailored, or
facilitated the tailoring of, Internet advertising based on
consumers Internet search, surfing, or other use."
The request comes amid rising scrutiny of the practice,
known as deep-packet inspection, or DPI, by lawmakers and
consumer advocates.
The letters were sent to more than 30 online companies,
including large broadband providers such as Comcast Corp, AT&T
Inc and Verizon Communications Inc, as well as search giant
Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.
"We are interested in the nature and extent to which you
engage in such practices, and the impact it could have on
consumer privacy," said the letter from Energy and Commerce
Committee Chairman John Dingell and ranking committee
Republican Joe Barton.
Representatives of Comcast, Google and Microsoft had no
immediate comment on the letter. A Verizon spokesman said, "Of
course we will review the letter and respond." An AT&T
spokesman said, "We look forward to responding promptly to the
committee's request."
The letter asks where any ad-targeting practices have been
used, how many consumers have been subjected to it and whether
those people were ever notified about it, among other things.
Concerns about DPI were sharpened earlier this year when
cable company Charter Communications disclosed plans for a
pilot program, in partnership with an advertising company
called NebuAd, to track customers.
Charter has said the service would be anonymous and would
not collect or use any information that identifies individuals.
It pledged to protect customers' privacy and said they would be
allowed to opt out of the program. But Charter later put the
program on hold because of the privacy concerns.
NebuAd's chief executive, Bob Dykes, has told lawmakers
during congressional testimony that the company's advertising
network benefits consumers by serving them with more relevant
online ads. He has said NebuAd does not collect personally
identifiable information about Web users or store "raw data"
linked to individuals.
One of the committee members who signed Friday's letter,
Democratic Rep. Edward Markey, of Massachusetts, has said
broadband providers should be required to get their customers'
permission before the companies are allowed to track their
online visits.
(Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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