Rep. Boucher Calls for Internet Ad Regulation

In an interview Friday, Rep. Rick Boucher, (D-Va.) called for Congress to take a tougher stance in regulating online ad-targeting, despite the FTC’s endorsement of industry self-regulation.

“I am coming to believe (industry self-regulation) is not sufficient,” said Rep. Boucher, chairman of the House subcommittee on communications, technology and the Internet. He noted that there is a need for a set of laws that dictate parameters for how companies collect, share and use online data about their consumers.

In its report, released Thursday, the FTC laid out a number of principles to guide practices for online behavioral targeting, in which a company tracks consumers’ online activities, such as the searches they perform and the Web sites they visit.

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