Public Workshop on Online Profiling

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Telecommunications and Information Administration

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[Docket No. 990811219-9219-01]

Public Workshop on Online Profiling

AGENCIES: National Telecommunications and Information Administration,

Commerce; Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The National Telecommunications and Information Administration

(``NTIA'') of the United States Department of Commerce and the Federal

Trade Commission have determined to hold a public workshop on ``online

profiling,'' the practice of aggregating information about consumers'

preferences and interests, gathered primarily by tracking their

movements online, and using the resulting consumer profiles to create

targeted advertising on Web sites. The workshop will be divided into

three sessions. Session I will explore developments in information

technology that facilitate online profiling. Session II will examine

the implications of online profiling technologies for consumer privacy.

Session III will focus on the online profiling industry's self-

regulatory efforts to protect consumers' privacy online. Any person who

wishes to participate as a panelist in one or more of the workshop

sessions must file a written request to participate. In addition, the

agencies are requesting public comment addressing various issues

related to the practice of online profiling.

DATES: The workshop will be held on November 8, 1999 at the U.S.

Department of Commerce, Main Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW,

Washington, DC 20230. The workshop is open to the public.

Written comments and requests to participate as a panelist in the

workshop must be filed on or before October 18, 1999. Persons filing

requests to participate as a panelist will be notified on or before

October 25, 1999, if they have been selected to participate.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests to participate as a panelist

in the workshop should be submitted to Secretary, Federal Trade

Commission, Room H-159, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC

20580.

Submission of Documents

Parties sending written comments and/or requests to participate

should submit an original and two copies of each document. To enable

prompt review and public access, paper submissions should include a

version on diskette in PDF, ASCII, WordPerfect (please specify version)

or Microsoft Word (please specify version) format. Diskettes should be

labeled with the name of the party, and the name and version of the

word processing program used to create the document. Alternatively,

documents may be submitted to the following email address:

[email protected].

Written Comments

Comments should be captioned ``Online Profiling Project--Comment,

P994809 / Docket No. 990811219-9219-01.'' Rebuttal comments should be

submitted following the procedures described above. All comments will

be posted on the Federal Trade Commission's Web site: www.ftc.gov and

on the NTIA's Web site: www.ntia.doc.gov.

Requests To Participate as Panelist in the Workshop

Requests to participate as a panelist should be captioned ``Online

Profiling Project--Request to Participate, P994809 / Docket No.

990811219-9219-01.''

Parties may apply to participate as a panelist in more than one

workshop session. Requests to participate, however, must specify the

session(s) in which participation is sought. Parties applying to

participate are also encouraged to file written comments.

Requesters will be notified on or before October 25, 1999, if they

have been selected to participate in workshop sessions. To assist staff

of the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission in

making this notification, parties are asked to include in their request

to participate a telephone number, facsimile number, and email address

if available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy S. Lader, NTIA, U.S. Department

of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230,

telephone (202) 482-1880, email [email protected]; or Martha K.

Landesberg, Division of Financial Practices, Federal Trade Commission,

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Mail Stop 4429, Washington, DC 20580,

telephone (202) 326-2825, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.; 47 U.S.C. 902(b)(2)(H); 47

U.S.C. 902(b)(2)(M).

1. Background

In July 1998, Vice President Gore asked the Department of Commerce

to work with the Federal Trade Commission to encourage companies that

build dossiers (profiles) about individuals by integrating information

from a variety of database sources to implement effective self-

regulatory mechanisms. The Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade

Commission have been working together to explore ways in which consumer

privacy can be protected in light of the rise of new technologies that

facilitate ``online profiling,'' the practice of aggregating

information about consumers' preferences and interests, gathered

primarily by tracking their movements online, and using the resulting

consumer profiles to create targeted advertising on Web sites.

Profiling typically employs ``cookies,'' text files placed on users'

computers to store information about their computers and their online

activities. Companies are involved in a wide array of activities that

support online profiling. For example, some companies develop profiling

software and license it to Web sites that wish to track their own

visitors; others manage networks of sites, pool data about consumers

who visit sites in those networks, and sell or place online advertising

based upon inferences about consumers drawn from the pooled data; still

others specialize in measuring the popularity of particular online

advertisements for advertisers. Privacy concerns have been raised by

many of these practices. Consumers are largely unaware of the creation

of online profiles, and the implementation of core fair information

practices of notice, choice, access and security with respect to the

collection of information in online profiles remains a significant

challenge. The Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission

are announcing a public workshop to be held on November 8, 1999, to

inform government officials and the public about these and related

issues, and about industry's current self-regulatory efforts to develop

privacy protections for online consumers.

[[Page 50814]]

2. Workshop Agenda

The workshop will be held on November 8, 1999 at the U.S.

Department of Commerce, Main Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW,

Washington, DC 20230. The tentative schedule for the workshop is as

follows: the workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will consist of three

sessions, which will run consecutively.

Session I: Online Profiling Technology

This session will explore information technologies that facilitate

profiling of consumers online, both technologies that are currently in

use and those in development. This session will focus particularly on

the extent to which these technologies permit the integration of

information that identifies consumers as individuals with non-

identifying information.

Session II: Implications of Online Profiling Technology for User

Privacy

This session will examine the extent to which online profiling

technologies impinge upon consumer privacy, as well as the costs and

benefits of online profiling for both consumers and businesses.

Session III: The Role of Self Regulation

This session will examine the potential of self-regulation as a

means of addressing the privacy concerns raised by online profiling.

This session will also examine ways in which profiling technology can

be deployed to promote adherence to fair information practices. Current

efforts to implement fair information practices in the profiling

industry will be discussed.

3. Participation in Workshop Sessions

Those parties who wish to participate as panelists in the workshop

must notify the Secretary of the Federal Trade Commission, in writing,

of their interest in participating in Sessions I, II, and/or III on or

before October 18, 1999. Parties may participate in more than one

workshop session; requests to participate must specify the session(s)

in which participation is sought. All workshop sessions are open to the

public.

Staff of the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade

Commission will select a limited number of panelists to participate in

the Workshop Sessions. In order to promote a thorough examination of

the issues and to facilitate an effective discussion, participants will

be chosen to represent different points of view and interests. Parties

requesting to participate are therefore encouraged to file written

comments. The agencies may invite parties to participate as panelists

who have not filed requests to participate.

Parties will participate in an open discussion of the issues. It is

contemplated that the selected panelists will ask and answer questions

based on their respective comments, including questions posed by staff

of the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission, at the

workshop. The discussion will be transcribed and the transcription

placed on the public record.

To the extent possible, staff of the Department of Commerce and the

Federal Trade Commission will select panelists to represent the

following affected interests, as well as any other interests that staff

may identify and deem appropriate for representation. For Session I:

online profiling companies; Web site operators; online advertisers;

experts in profiling technology and software. For Session II: consumer

and privacy advocacy groups; industry groups; Internet service

providers; Web site operators; online marketers; Internet ``portal''

sites; consumers who are active on the World Wide Web. For Session III:

online profiling companies; Web site operators; online advertisers;

Internet ``portal'' sites; industry groups; consumer and privacy

advocacy groups. Each session may also include members of the academic

or research community with expertise in privacy, fair information

practices, and/or consumer preferences with respect to the use of

personal information in the online environment.

Parties to represent the above-referenced interests will be

selected on the basis of the following criteria:

1. The party's participation would promote a balance of interests

being represented at the workshop.

2. The party has expertise in or knowledge of the issues that are

the focus of the workshop.

3. The party adequately reflects the views of the affected

interest(s) which it purports to represent, not simply a single entity

or firm within that interest.

4. The party has been designated by one or more interested parties

(who timely file written comments and requests to participate) as a

party who shares group interests with the designator(s).

5. The number of parties selected will not be so large as to

inhibit effective discussion among them.

If it is necessary to limit the number of panelists, those not

selected to participate may be afforded an opportunity at the end of

the workshop to present their views during a limited time period. The

time allotted for these statements will be determined on the basis of

the time necessary for discussion of the issues by the selected

parties, as well as by the number of persons who wish to make

statements.

4. Invitation To Comment

Interested parties are requested to submit written comments on any

issue of fact, law, or policy that may inform the U. S. Department of

Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission's study of online profiling.

Specifically, comment is requested on the questions set forth below.

These questions are designed to assist the public, however, and should

not be construed as a limitation on the issues on which public comment

may be submitted. Comments should cite the number of the question(s)

addressed. Please provide copies of any studies, research, or other

empirical data referenced in comments.

1. What types of companies are engaged in online profiling or in

the development of online profiling technologies? What are the relevant

business models?

2. What types of information are currently being collected by

online profiling companies from or about Web site visitors?

3. What technologies do online profiling companies use to collect

information about consumers? Please describe how these technologies

function.

4. Do these technologies currently enable creation of anonymous

profiles?

5. Do these technologies currently enable the creation of consumer

profiles that identify individual consumers? Do the profiles include

information originally collected anonymously but later linked to an

individual? Are online profiling companies currently creating such

profiles?

6. Are there technologies in development that will enable the

creation of consumer profiles that identify individual consumers? If

so, please describe.

7. How is the information collected by online profiling companies

used?

8. Is the information collected by online profiling companies being

merged with other databases? If so, what kinds of information are

included in such databases? How is the merged information being used?

9. What are the costs and benefits, to both industry and consumers,

of online profiling?

10. What are consumers' perceptions about online profiling? Please

provide the results of any studies or surveys addressing this question.

11. What are the beneficial uses of the information collected by

online profiling companies?

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12. Are consumers' privacy interests implicated by the collection,

compilation, sale and use of information collected by online profiling

companies? If so, please describe.

13. Do online profiling companies disclose the ultimate uses of the

information they collect? If so, what is the nature of such

disclosures? Where possible, please provide examples of such

disclosures.

14. Do online profiling companies provide effective mechanisms for

a consumer to remove his or her information from their databases or

otherwise control the use of such information?

15. Do online profiling companies provide consumers an opportunity

to choose whether and how their information will be collected and used?

If so, please describe the choices that consumers are given and how

consumers can exercise these choices.

16. What is current industry practice, with respect to information

already collected from individuals, when there is a later change in the

company's policies? What is the current industry practice, with respect

to information already collected from individuals, when there is a

material change in the corporate structure or business contracts

governing such information, such as through a merger, joint venture, or

sale of customer lists? Do online profiling companies provide notice

and choice with respect to how already-collected information is handled

under changed circumstances?

17. What, if any, legal or other practical issues would be

implicated in the creation of effective self-regulatory programs to

govern the sorts of changed circumstances described in Question 16?

18. Do online profiling companies provide consumers the opportunity

to see what information has been collected from or about them and the

ability to correct errors? If so, please describe.

19. What procedures have online profiling companies instituted to

maintain the security of the information they collect?

20. What self-regulatory efforts have online profiling companies

undertaken to address concerns raised by their collection, compilation,

sale, and use of consumer information? How do these efforts address the

fair information practice of notice, choice, access, security, and

enforcement? What are the costs and benefits, to both consumers and

businesses, of such self-regulatory efforts?

21. Are there any efforts currently underway or planned to educate

consumers and businesses about online profiling? If so, please

describe.

5. Form and Availability of Comments

Comments should indicate the number(s) of the specific question(s)

being answered, provide responses to questions in numerical order, and

use a new page for each question answered.

Written comments will be available for public inspection in

accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, and

Federal Trade Commission regulations, 16 CFR part 4.9, Monday through

Friday between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the Public

Reference Room 130, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW, Washington, DC 20580. The agencies will make this notice and, to

the extent technically possible, all comments received in response to

this notice available to the public through the Internet at the

following addresses: www.ftc.gov and www.ntia.doc.gov.

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary, Federal Trade Commission.

Kathy D. Smith,

Acting Chief Counsel, National Telecommunications and Information

Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

[FR Doc. 99-24252 Filed 9-17-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-60-P 6750-01-P