The Center for Digital Democracy is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the growing privacy threats to consumers from the practice of online and mobile real-time data targeting.

CDD, United States Public Interest Research Groups and the World Privacy Forum have filed the complaint, claiming that the technologies enabling the real-time targeting and auctioning of consumers is becoming commonplace. In addition, the organizations say that there is an expanding role of online and mobile consumer data for sale.

?This is behavioral targeting on steroids, because it seamlessly merges offline and online information on a single user,? said Jeff Chester, executive director at the CDD, Washington. ?Then selling them to the highest bidder in real-time, that's what's new ? milliseconds later, a user is bought and sold for targeting and retargeting ? all without their awareness and consent.

?Also, as the complaint says, it's clear publishers and marketers are able to use this real-time and data-engorged system to generate larger revenues,? he said. ?Yet a consumer isn't given a share of what is their property, their information.?

CDD is a nonprofit group working to educate the public about the impact of digital marketing on public health, consumer protection and privacy.

Mobile complaint
The 32-page filing says consumers are robbed of their ability to reap the financial benefits of their own data, while publishers, ad networks and information brokers cash in on this information.

The organizations are asking the FTC to force companies involved in real-time online and mobile tracking and auction-bidding to provide an opt-in for consumer participation in such systems.

Additionally, they are asking the FTC to require that the companies change their privacy policies and practices to acknowledge that tracking and real-time auctioning of users involve personally identifiable information.

?The point we make is that individuals are being bought and sold ? yet the industry claims all this is OK because it isn't personally identifiable,? Mr. Chester said. ?Yet they say, repeatedly, they target a single individual.?

CDD, U.S. PIRG and WPF want a report prepared for the public and Congress within six months that informs consumers and policymakers about the privacy risks and consumer protection issues involved with the real-time tracking, data profiling and auction of consumer profiles.

In addition, the organizations believe the FTC should address the implications of potential information redlining of consumers. Companies should not provide editorial content based on an assessment of the marketing value of a particular online or mobile consumer?s behavioral data, Mr. Chester said.

According to CDD, participating companies are employing practices that fail to protect consumer privacy or provide reasonable understanding of the data collection process, including variations in how cookies are stored and the outside data sources used.

?The FTC is currently working on a report aimed at developing new principles to govern online privacy,? Mr. Chester said. ?We want mobile data used in online ad exchanges to first require an opt-in from any user.

"Incorporating mobile data into the online ad-exchange process is very troubling, which is why we signaled it into the complaint for FTC,? he said.

Please click here to download the PDF of the complaint.