Web Analysts Back Code of Ethics Amid Privacy Concerns
Amid increasing scrutiny of the Internet-data industry, a group of people who analyze such online information are trying to get their colleagues to commit to a code of ethics.
Among other things, the new code asks workers to ensure that consumers have a means to opt out of tracking and that privacy policies provide a clear explanation of data collection and usage.
The effort, backed by a group called the Web Analytics Association, aims to provide a professional code for people who work in an important segment of the data industry. Web analysts generally help sites evaluate the traffic coming to their own pages. Such services are typically separate from ad networks, but there are no rules governing the sharing of such data.