“限制网络追踪法”缘何无人喝彩

    上周四，美国参议院议员再次提请法案，旨在允许互联网用户禁止广告商追踪自己的上网行为。不过，它通过的可能性微乎其微。

    这项名为《限制追踪实施法》（Do Not Track Online Act）的法案听起来很像10年前获得批准的鼎鼎大名的《限制呼叫实施法》（Do Not Call），后者允许用户登记自己的电话号码，从而屏蔽掉令人生厌的推销电话。

    虽然在线追踪可能更严重地侵犯了用户隐私，但目前来看，限制追踪法案获得的支持很少，这与2003年颁布的《限制呼入实施法》情形迥异。当时，后者获得了大量支持。原因在于电话营销意味着无休无止的骚扰电话，但在线广告追踪通常在幕后进行，用户基本不会察觉。既然后者不会打扰用户，那么用户也不大可能投诉，就算他们了解细节。而且，许多人颇为喜欢精确投放的广告，大量的免费网站也离不开个性化广告的支持。

    法案是由西弗吉尼亚州参议员杰•洛克菲勒和康乃狄克州参议员理查德•布鲁门塔提出的。依据法案，用户可以在浏览器中设置选项，从而告知广告商等第三方不要追踪其浏览行为。追踪技术能帮助广告商依据用户的上网行为更精确地投放广告。

    广告业强调，数据收集完全是匿名的（会记录个人计算机地址，但不会记录姓名等个人信息），整个行业旗帜鲜明地反对限制追踪法案。去年，广告商们曾保证会提出解决方案，让用户可以禁止追踪。但迄今为止，没有任何一种方案付诸于行动。所以，限制追踪法如今再度被提上日程。广告业“辜负了对大家的承诺”，洛克菲勒在一份声明中掷地有声地表示。“我的法案使用户有机会对任何想收集其在线信息的人说不。就这么简单。”

    法案将赋予联邦贸易委员会和各州总检察长执法权。广告业大声疾呼自己应获得“自我监督权”，不过目前整个行业尚未形成这样的机制。追踪限制法面临着行业游说人士的强烈反对，而且公众的支持也寥寥无几，目前看来很可能成不了什么气候。（财富中文网）

    译者：项航

    Legislation to give Internet users the right to prevent advertisers from tracking their online activities was re-introduced in the Senate on Thursday. It has little chance of passing.

    The proposed Do Not Track Online Act sounds a lot like the very popular federal Do Not Call legislation that was passed a decade ago, creating a registry where people can enter their phone numbers to be screened out of receiving obnoxious telemarketing calls.

    Even though online tracking by advertisers is potentially much more of an intrusion on privacy, there is very little in the way of a groundswell of support for legislation restricting it, as there was for the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act of 2003. That's because whereas telemarketing calls involve annoying, disruptive phone calls, online ad-tracking takes place behind the scenes, often entirely unbeknownst to Internet users. And since it doesn't disrupt anybody's day, people are much less likely to complain about it even when they know the details. Also, many people like having advertising aimed particularly at them, and personalized ads help finance free Web sites.

    The legislation is sponsored by Sens. Jay Rockfeller (D-W.Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). It would allow users to opt in to a browser setting that would tell third parties, usually advertisers, not to track their browsing activity. Tracking enables advertisers to target ads at specific users based on their online activities.

    The ad industry insists that data is collected anonymously (individual computer addresses are tracked but not names or other personal information), and the industry has been stalwart in opposing legislation restricting it. Last year, advertisers pledged to work to come up with a solution that would allow users to opt out of tracking, but so far, no such solution has been forthcoming. Hence the re-introduction of the bill. Advertisers have "failed to live up to that commitment," Rockefeller said in a statement on Thursday. "My bill gives consumers the opportunity to simply say 'no thank you' to anyone and everyone collecting their online information. Period."

    The bill would give enforcement power to the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. The ad industry has argued that the industry should be allowed to police itself, though it hasn't yet come up with a mechanism for doing so. The legislation faces tough opposition from industry lobbyists, and given the relative lack of public clamor, it seems likely at this point that it will get very far.