Open The Dialogue

Is Big Brother watching your back?  That’s what a new bill that is being assembled in the House is supposed to do as Congress takes a new look at  web privacy.

Representative Rick Boucher of Virginia, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and Internet is currently putting together the bill designed to federally regulate how websites collect information from consumers.  According  to the post by RedOrbit.com, Boucher says that the goal “is make people more likely to trust electronic commerce and the Internet.” Considering the recent explosion in social networking and mobile web use seems like this regulation is one that we could all use, right?

Of course the problem could be that without the ability to track and serve up just the right ads to consumers, online advertising could quickly shrivel and die. While I wouldn’t mind getting rid of a majority of the annoying ads I see everyday, the fact remains that a majority of the web is supported by advertising.  If we removed that building-block, its seems possible that a lot of sites could come crashing down.

So how are we going protect our web privacy?  It looks like the debate will boil down to four different philosophies.

1. The Opt-In Approach- The preferred option of the privacy watchdogs, like The Center for Democratic Democracy, this web privacy tactic would ask each consumer if the site can track their actions, kind of like how some computer programs work.  While privacy would stay safe, opponents argue that this would be ultra-annoying to consumers.
2. The Opt-Out Approach- Online advertising would love to see this one work. Rather than an opt-in screen, each site must offer the consumer the chance to opt-out. The question remains if consumers would actually know where and why they should take this privacy shield.
3. The Tiered Solution- Boucher suggests that the best way to protect your data might be forcing different sites to play by different rules.  Sites that deal with health information for instance might have to go through a more secure process that your local newspaper’s site.  What stands to question here is how quickly can sites be properly categorized and vetted? More importantly to the social media community is with sites today quickly moving to a networked approach through things like Facebook Connect, which sites are going to need to protect us the most? It could vary based on use!
4. Self-Regulation- As the current model for securing your internet privacy, self-regulation was only adopted by major web advertisers in July as a way to combat this bill.  According to the full report, the regulations are built to protect the concerns of the public relating to their privacy in issues of  Education, Transparency, Consumer Control, Data Security, Material Changes, Sensitive Data and Accountability. With the way the web moves, this may be our best bet. But then again who watches the self-regulating watchmen?

Do you think this bill could affect online advertising? What option would your prefer to protect your privacy?