After a decade of investigating online privacy issues, theFederal Trade Commission has proposed voluntary guidelines designedto give consumers more visibility into the behavioral advertisingprocess. In proposing this industry self-regulation, the FTC's fourprimary concerns and suggested remedies are, in summary:

·Greater transparency and consumer control. Websites thatcollect data for behavioral advertising should provide a clear,prominent statement that the information is being collected toprovide ads targeted to the consumer and allow the consumer to optout.

·The need to prevent criminals from accessing data collected forbehavioral advertising. Companies that collect and store consumerdata for behavioral advertising should provide reasonable securityand retain the information only as long as is necessary to fulfilla legitimate business or law enforcement need.