Joe Barton, Ed Markey Ask FTC To Probe MSN, Hulu Cookie Tracking

(Reuters) - Two leading lawmakers on privacy -- a Republican and Democrat -- have asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into MSN.com and Hulu.com's installation of cookies onto users' computers that cannot be deleted.

In a letter dated on Monday, Representatives Joe Barton and Ed Markey asked FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz what plans the agency had to probe the use of the so-called supercookies.

The supercookies are put on users' computers when they visit websites by companies that want to collect personal data, but unlike regular cookies, they cannot be deleted. And they can recreate a user's profile after less powerful cookies are deleted, the lawmakers said.

"We believe this new business practice raises serious privacy concerns and is unacceptable," they wrote. "We believe the usage of supercookies takes away consumer control over their own personal information, presents a greater opportunity for misuse of personal information, and provides another way for consumers to be tracked online."

Markey, a Democrat, and Barton, a Republican, are co-chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus.

In separate comments, Barton went further. "The constant abuse of online activity must stop," he wrote. "I think supercookies should be outlawed because their existence eats away at consumer choice and privacy."

The lawmakers urged the FTC to look into whether the practice of using supercookies is unfair or deceptive.

The FTC has backed the creation of a "do not track" option for the Internet that would limit the ability of advertisers to collect consumers' data in a preliminary staff report issued late last year. There has been legislation put forward in Congress to allow consumers to say they don't want to be tracked, but it has found little traction thus far.

The agency also proposed that company privacy policies be simpler, clearer and shorter, among other moves to strengthen consumers' clout in managing what companies know about them.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz in Washington; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions

Comments

[nattxn]

12:05 PM on 09/29/2011

This is very appropriate in light of what is going on !!! Not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only 30K over your 49 year working life, that’s $220,500. If you calculate the value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98. If you took 3% per year, you would receive $26,787.60 per year it would last better than 30 years,with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity that paid 4% per year, you’d have income of $2,976.40 per month. The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff . Entitlement, my foot, I paid cash for my social security insurance!!!! Just because they borrowed the money, doesn't make my benefits some kind of charity! Congressional benefits, aka free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days, that's welfare, and they have the nerve to call my retirement entitlements !!!!!! They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement but most of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from it in the first place? 99% of people won't have the guts to forward this.

[T003]

11:33 PM on 09/28/2011

A question for any knowledgable techies out there:

There's something very worrisome about my Google Gmail email account. Whenever I am logged in and reading my emails, or typing an email, the advertisements on the right-hand side of the page always reflect exactly what the subject matter of my open email is! If I am reading an email that says "I love you, I miss you", the ads will be about online dating websites. If I'm reading an email about astrology, the ads will be for various astrology & horoscope sites. If I am reading about a friend who died, the ads will be for local funeral homes or crematoriums. I do NOT like the fact that Google / Gmail is reading the keyword content in my emails. It's a frightening invasion of my privacy. Can anyone tell me if there are any measures being taken to stop or outlaw this practice? --- Thank you, T

[MarcEdward]

02:06 PM on 09/28/2011

Oh Jesus H. Christ - cookies, the new threat
not

[LRAdams]

12:35 PM on 09/29/2011

Holy Mary mother of God….Say it isn’t true.

[lonestarlady36]

12:46 PM on 09/28/2011

OMG, a Republican wanting to HELP us!!!!!!!!!

[CapitalGhost]

11:07 AM on 09/28/2011

People are more likely to have their privacy violated from groups like anonymous or Wikileaks.

[Michael1961]

10:48 AM on 09/28/2011

I am sure it is all part of Obama's desire to monitor the internet and register everyone so he will know who is an enemy of the socialist empire he and his liberal socialist cronies are building.

[grammy3158]

11:03 AM on 09/28/2011

Michael 1961 are you just whacked or nuts or what

[deemcdee]

01:29 PM on 09/28/2011

grammy, you are right. It's him and people like him that are dragging the country down into the abys.

[Mr Self Thinker]

03:13 PM on 09/28/2011

Oh my gosh, turn off FOX news and use your brain to find out the truth about what is going on around you. But first you have to ...........................turn off FOX news.

[chey06akili]

10:27 AM on 09/28/2011

"Super cookies" I suspect that they are referring to LSO cookies,these can be blocked or removed with the correct software.Computers are only safe if we maintain constant vigilance against intrusions. Do your homework and protect you personal/private info and that of your family members as well.

[jr3houpe1849]

10:20 AM on 09/28/2011

This is no different than some one breaking into my home

[des946]

10:07 AM on 09/28/2011

It should be illegal for any company to download anything on a user's PC that cannot be delted by the user . . . that should be a basic user right. And the fines should be hefty enough that they should not be able to be absorbed as a "cost of doing business"; and corporate management should be held personally criminally responsible for violations of such privacy laws. Without personal responsibilities and prosecution of individuals, privacy laws have no real impact; the corporations will violate the laws with impunity.

[laurelphot]

09:48 AM on 09/28/2011

Just outlaw it. make it a FELONY, with a MANDITORY ONE YEAR in Jail for the CEO and $1,000,000.00 fine for the companies , PER OCCURANCE. Ten Cookies, Ten Years, Ten Million. 100 Cookies, 100 years, 100 Million.
Simple

[teegerard]

09:43 AM on 09/28/2011

FINALLY, THEY SHOULD FINED ANYONE ONE AND JAIL TIME TOO, WHO PLACE COOKIES WITHOUT ASKING SOMEONE

[thetxsndn]

09:40 AM on 09/28/2011

Shades of 1984. Big brother is watching. Fark 'em. If they're that insecure, maybe they shouldn't be in office to begin with. What are they afraid of ? That we might notice they're not doing what they were elected to do ?

[laurelphot]

09:50 AM on 09/28/2011

No, that we might find out that they are doing what they were elected to PREVENT.

[thetxsndn]

10:54 AM on 09/28/2011

We already KNOW they're doing what we elected them to prevent.

[aryasarius]

09:38 AM on 09/28/2011

as someone else posted the computer is my personal property. what these companies are doing without my permission is trespassing and vandalism. it's no different than them writing on my garage wall all my personal information for someone else to read or steal.

This needs to be recognized as illegal as well. I saw already because that kind of behaviour is already illegal.
They are trespassing and stealing and it needs to stop.

[laurelphot]

09:57 AM on 09/28/2011

Hey, politicians want access to all your communications. And those many age old laws against unauthorized tampering with the US Mail, severly limit them.

[Dean2722]

09:23 AM on 09/28/2011

The personal computer has revolutionized world politics. The cat's out of the bag. Nothing can reign it in now. If governements and their home security agencies want to watch you read the racing form in the W.C. no apps can be made that contrary apps can't zap. Mother Nature is now a motherboard.

[laurelphot]

09:55 AM on 09/28/2011

Yep, it's in that catagory with Mustard Gas, Atomic bombs, Ballistic Missiles, Drones with guided Missiles, and Humanitarian Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin painless execution advance.
None can be uninvented.

[wizeanne]

09:07 AM on 09/28/2011

The government argues that it does NOT need a warrant to access and read your email or what you post online or to track your cell phone with a mobile tracking device. 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act. So a cookie or supercookie isn't going to stop the govenment from tracking what we post on our PERSONAL computer and cell phones. Appreciate the efforts of Mr. Markey and Mr. Barton...unfortunately they are way to late.