WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today asked Visa and MasterCard to provide the Commerce Committee with more information about the companies’ plans to use customer purchasing habits to target behavioral advertisements on the Internet.  A recent Wall Street Journal article reported on the planned marketing initiatives and some of the potential privacy implications for the credit card companies’ customers. 

“The privacy protections afforded to Americans in today’s commercial marketplace are already inadequate,” Rockefeller said.  “Plans to combine customers’ purchase data with other personal data, such as information from social network websites, credit bureaus, search engines, insurance claims, and even DNA databanks, for the purpose of targeted behavioral advertising are unprecedented and alarming.  These sorts of initiatives must be examined closely to determine all of the implications, especially for consumers.”  

The text of the letters Chairman Rockefeller sent to Visa and MasterCard requesting more information on the matter can be found below.

Background:

Chairman Rockefeller has long advocated for increased privacy protections for consumers, particularly as it pertains to the collection and use of personal information.  Under the Commerce Committee’s broad jurisdiction of consumer protection, it has held numerous hearings and has introduced legislation to address consumer privacy.  

Rockefeller and Consumer Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor have introduced one such bill to address growing online data collection trends.  S.1207, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2011, would require businesses and nonprofit organizations that store consumers’ personal information to put in place strong security features to safeguard sensitive data, alert consumers when this data has been breached, and provide affected individuals with the tools they need to protect their credit and finances.  Currently, there is no single federal standard for guarding many types of consumer information.

In addition, Chairman Rockefeller has introduced legislation that would give consumers the ability to opt out of having their online activities tracked by Internet companies.  This bill, the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011 (S.913), has garnered wide support from several consumer protection groups, including: the American Civil Liberties Union, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Consumer Watchdog, Consumer Action, and the Center for Digital Democracy.

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