In a recent study done by students attending the University of California, Berkley, much information was gained about how we are tracked in our internet use, who is tracking us, and if this is an infringement of our privacy. By looking into sources of complaints filed to the F.T.C. they were able to obtain knowledge about the third parties that took information about the people visiting their web sites, the most common being Google. The company has developed a product called Google Analytics, in which web producers can use on their sites to gain information about the people who visit their web page. This information is also sent back to Google where they may use it as they please. “What is striking in the Berkeley students’ report is that in a sample of nearly 400,000 Web domains, Google’s presence remained high, at 88 percent”. These trackers are everywhere and are storing information about its visitors constantly and at some point we need to draw the line.
This is an invasion of privacy and is an issue that might bring up problems in the future. The F.T.C. of the Bush administration usually took no action in cases such as this one, unless their was some harm being done. However only recently have we discovered the extent at which our information was being collected. The new F.T.C. under president Obama should take preventative action in this matter and look into regulating what sort of information is appropriate to be collected and how exactly this information is being used. As Americans our privacy is very important to us especially in the era of identity theft. This information has the potential to be used in a manner that could substantially effect our lives and is an aspect of the internet that the F.T.C. needs to address.
By: Stephen Killion and Jason Kletzky
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/google-is-top-tracker-of-surfers-in-study/?scp=3&sq=FTC&st=cse
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