During yesterday’s Senate committee hearing, AT&T and Verizon, which are two of the country’s biggest Internet service providers, announced their decision not to track and record the Web behavior of their customers without their explicit permission.

This practice, called behavioral targeting, is done all over the world by many companies that do not inform the users about their activities, in an effort to gather as much information as possible in order to prepare advertising campaigns. They monitor a consumer’s moves over the Internet, seeking a pattern in his visited Web pages and use the information to send him offers and links with things he could find of interest. To a certain degree, it could be considered useful, but the privacy issue stands out and users should be able to opt on receiving or not this kind of attention.

"Verizon believes that before a company captures certain Internet-usage data . . . it should obtain meaningful, affirmative consent from consumers," said Thomas J. Tauke, Verizon executive vice president.

AT&T’s officials also stated that this should become a concern for all companies engaged in such practices and that everyone should get involved in order to stop this trend. Dorothy Attwood, chief privacy officer at AT&T, explained that the issue should also include other ad networks and search engines in order to make sure that one business model or technology will not be favored over another.

Microsoft announced that it is currently reviewing the proposal.

Google addressed the issue by saying that its membership inside the Network Advertising Initiative industry group should point out the company’s interest for consumer privacy protection. Also, the company wanted to distinguish between the various ways that the tracking can be made and the less or more invasive methods used by the various Internet providers.

Time Warner Cable also declared itself a supporter of the required customer consent which should apply to all the companies involved in this type of advertising system.

The best solution for the customers would be to have an option in their browser’s security settings, allowing them to ‘opt in’ for these tracking actions and advertising offers. There should also be an ‘opt out’ button, accessible at any moment, in case they change their mind.

The industry’s officials reject the idea because they believe that advertising would have a lot to suffer. "Every advertising platform and business model would be put at risk," explained Mike Zaneis, vice president of public policy for a trade group called the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The truth is that there are very few people who would pick an ‘opt in’ choice, if given the chance, making it hard for certain businesses to get their offers exposed. The matter is very complex and will demand a lot more time before reaching a proper fix, as the authorities must decide if the customers’ interest represents the number one concern or if the industry’s future is more important. Once the other companies and groups will announce their side, we will get a clearer view of the matter’s direction.