Digital Rights Advocates Take Aim At Mobile Marketing; FTC Filings Seek Curbs On Gathering User Data

This could actually be read as a sign that mobile advertising market is starting to come into its own… two consumer advocacy groups, the Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. Public Interest Research Group, have filed preliminary complaints with the Federal Trade Commission asking regulators to actively curb the use of behavioral targeting by requiring users’ specific consent before their personal information and mobile web activity is recorded for ad profiling.

The joint filing by CDD and USPIRG is modeled on the two group’s Nov. 2006 FTC filing asking that officials investigate alleged privacy violations by online advertising companies. CDD executive director,Jeff Chester said the FTC “dropped the ball” when it elected to let the online ad industry police itself and that mobile-web advertising is still in a more “fluid period,” which could allow consumer groups to exercise more influence. He added that he expects to file a full petition with the FTC with a catalog of alleged violations within the next two weeks.

In particular, the groups are taking aim at technologies like Enpocket’s “Personalization Engine,

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