Privacy Advocates Decry E-Mail Tracking Feature

Consumer and privacy advocates are concerned about the implications of an e-mail feature that they say enables companies to track consumers' Internet surfing habits. In a petition filed Friday with the Federal Trade Commission, the groups have asked that software makers be required to close what they believe is a loophole in e-mail technology. The advocates fear that companies could exploit the technology to track the Web sites consumers visit and then match it up with their e-mail addresses and possibly other personal information. That could open the door for intensive marketing of services and products to people who have visited certain sites, they said. ""This feature is so subtle and difficult to understand that the average consumer can't be expected to avoid the invasion of privacy it causes,"" said Jason Catlett, President of Junkbusters Corp., a New Jersey-based company that specializes in Internet privacy matters. (AP)

Source: The Hollywood Reporter