The Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with online ad network Chitika over charges that the company engaged in deceptive practices when it came to tracking consumers' behavior online.
According to the agency, Chitika gave customers the choice to opt-out of online behavioral tracking, but that opt-out period only lasted 10 days, something Chitika did not disclose. When customers opted out, Chitika simply displayed a message that said "You are currently opted out." When the 10 days were up, however, Chitika placed cookies on the browsers of those who had opted out and tracked them once again. This lasted from May 2008 to February 2010.
Under the settlement announced today, Chitika is banned from making misleading statements about its data collection processes. Every targted ad must include a link that takes a user to a page that will allow them to opt-out for at least five years. Chitika must destroy all information collected from users during the offending opt-out period. The company must also notify the customers who opted out, but had their activity tracked again after 10 days.
The announcement comes several months after the FTC unveiled an online privacy proposal that included a "do not track" suggestion for browsers that would prevent them from collecting a Web user's online history. In the wake of that report, major browser makers like Microsoft, Google, and Mozilla have announced various "do not track" solutions for their products, and members of Congress have also taken up the issue.