Robert Dykes

Just what we need: another way to get bombarded with personalized ads. Consumers are already spoon-fed ads based on the searches they conduct with tools like Google and Yahoo!; wireless service providers can send coupons, using call logs to track subscriber tastes and navigation tools to determine their whereabouts; and cable companies tailor local marketing messages to a viewer's neighborhood or city.

The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet said he thinks online monitoring services working on behalf of the advertising community should be required to obtain clear approval before tracking the online activities of individuals.

There are notable differences between the typical data gathering that individual Web sites conduct and those deploying deep-packet technologies in broadband networks, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) noted during a hearing on the impact of deep-packet technologies on consumers, Internet service providers, and the Internet.

Congress has asked Embarq Corp. about its work with a company that tracks online subscribers' Web traffic for advertising purposes, part of growing concern about Internet privacy.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Embarq is the nation's fourth-largest traditional telephone company with 1.34 million high-speed Internet subscribers in 14 states. It has been linked in the past with NebuAd Inc., a company that works with Internet service providers to tailor targeted ads based on what Web sites a particular subscriber visits.