FTC asks Silicon Valley to better police privacy

The Federal Trade Commission paid a visit to Silicon Valley recently with a very direct message: It's time to step up to the plate and do a better job of protecting consumer privacy and consumer data. Meeting in Berkeley, Calif., with corporate technology leaders, the FTC said it wants companies like Apple, Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others to come up with self-regulatory tactics that will protect consumers and prevent privacy disclosures.

The session was designed to get industry input before the FTC drafts its proposals setting a framework for how consumer information is collected and used on the web. The implicit message is that the more the industry does voluntarily, the less need there will be for onerous federal regulation.

The FTC has been vocal in asserting that privacy policies of companies are not clear or accessible enough to protect consumers, and it has been questioning whether online data is being used appropriately. The privacy issue is no small matter, of course. Consumer data and personal information is collected, sold and bandied about with little oversight and control. It's the free market and makes for good business, but there are serious risks for consumers if the data is misused.

Hoping to deter regulators, the advertising industry has agreed on a standard icon--a little "i"--that it will add to most online ads that use demographics and behavioral data as a warning to consumers.

For more on online privacy:
- see this Forbes magazine article

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