FTC is clearing a path for better web marketing

EDWARD FELTEN, the incoming technology chief at the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has said that Internet users should hand over their personal data to marketers.

Felten, who infamously cracked a digital-copyright code and has the sort of technology background that regulators covet, starts his new job in the new year. He took the holiday downtime to take an interview with Bloomberg, during which he made some suggestions for technology use and future regulatory curtain twitching.

Felten said that advertisers should be in a position to ask customers and consumers what they want, with financial incentives, and suggested that that would let them market to shoppers in a much more accurate way.

"That information may be more accurate than what the company has deduced about the user," Felten said. "And the user may have a higher comfort level deciding what information to provide rather than worrying about what inferences might be made from what they've gathered."

The FTC has been wrestling with web marketing rules for some time now, and earlier this month suggested that web firms and browsers offer their users a ‘do not track' option, which would mean that their e-travels are left uncharted.

"These are feasible options," Felten told Bloomberg. However, he added that the regulator was keen not to enforce one system to rule them all.

"The question of what is best is something we are still discussing. I don't get the sense the FTC is in a rush to mandate a unified system," he explained. µ