NebuAd
This week a class action lawsuit was filed against behavioral targeting company NebuAd and 26 internet service providers (ISPs) that tested the service.
A group of 15 Web users filed a lawsuit Monday against behavioral targeting company NebuAd and six Internet service providers that tested the company's platform. The lawsuit, brought in federal district court in San Jose, Calif., alleges that NebuAd's platform violated Web users' privacy. NebuAd purchased information about subscribers' Web activity from Internet service providers and used that data to send people targeted ads.
Although they don't currently target ads to their broadband subscribers, representatives from *AT&T*, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Communications appeared before a Senate committee and promised to adopt a system that would seek customers permission first before serving behavioral ads, ClickZ reported. In a period of increased scrutiny on behavioral targeting, cable companies and telcos are still holding out hope that they can convince lawmakers to allow the industry to self-regulate.
In the U.S., behavioral targeting company NebuAd was forced to retreat from a plan to purchase information about people's online activity from ISPs and then serve ads based on subscribers' Web histories. But in the U.K., authorities have not only cleared ISP-based behavioral targeting company Phorm, but appear to be rooting for it.
In the U.S., online ad company NebuAd was forced to retreat from its controversial behavioral targeting plan, but rival Phorm has just been given the go-ahead by U.K. authorities. The U.K.'s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform stated Tuesday that Phorm's behavioral targeting platform is legal, largely because the company intends to notify users about the system and obtain their consent before deploying it.
In another blow for behavioral targeting firm NebuAd, Bob Dykes has stepped down as CEO. Dykes, who has joined electronic payment systems company Verifone Holdings as senior vice president and CFO, will remain chairman of NebuAd's board. The news caps several tumultuous months for NebuAd, which faced criticism from some lawmakers and privacy advocates for its plans to purchase information about people's Web activity from their broadband providers and then serve targeted ads.
Having endured continued Congressional scrutiny, the loss of potential clients and the sudden departure of its CEO, NebuAd has decided to call "time out" on its ad targeting plans, WaPo reports.
ISPs abandoned the company. Lawmakers condemned its tactics. And now, Bob Dykes, former CEO of NebuAd, is taking a job as CFO at VeriFone Holdings. His departure as CEO (he will remain as chairman), coming after months of setbacks, marks yet another challenge for the controversial company. What's more, it could signal trouble for other ad companies that intend to purchase data about consumers from ISPs.
When privacy advocates first said that ISPs might be violating federal wiretap laws by selling information about users' Web activity to behavioral targeting company NebuAd, the company said it always obtained users' consent to the tracking. But now it's come out that at least one ISP, The Washington Post Company's Cable One, didn't even give subscribers that option.
In response to a Congressional inquiry, Google told members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Friday that it saw a difference between behavioral targeting company NebuAd, which harvests data from Internet service providers, and other online ad companies.
