PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
The United States Federal Trade Commission has called for a mechanism in all internet browsers that gives user the option not to have their web browsing habits tracked.
The Commission has compiled a report that suggests that the growing information marketplace should be based on transparency, privacy and consumer choice.
To do so, it recommends that businesses should adopt a “privacy by design” approach by building privacy protections in to everyday business practices, and that consumers should be presented with a choice about data sharing – without having to read long and complicated disclosures that they often cannot find.
“Technological and business ingenuity have spawned a whole new online culture and vocabulary – email, IMs, apps and blogs – that consumers have come to expect and enjoy,” said the FTC’s chairman Jon Leibowitz.
“The FTC wants to help ensure that the growing, changing, thriving information marketplace is built on a framework that promotes privacy, transparency, business innovation and consumer choice.”
He added that the FTC would be looking to take action against companies that violate consumer data and privacy, “especially where children and teens are involved.”
