Privacy has always been a big concern on the Internet, and it looks like behavorial tracking is one of the latest targets. Earlier this month, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) introduced a bill to Congress that would require “online-tracking” firms to allow citizens to opt out of said tracking on penalty of stiff fines. The bill, called the Do Not Track Me Online Act, wants to allow people to choose to have a no-tracking setting in their browser, and then require companies to obey it.

Ostensibly, the bill mainly applies to companies whose primary function is to collect and analyze data from users, and it does have loopholes to allow for companies to collect data to improve their own businesses, but if those provisions aren’t made, anyone with a site that gets more than 15k users a year could face big fines for the use of even the most basic web analytics software.

Basically, they want to prevent companies from being able to track what users do online and then use that info to serve up targeted ads, so you can obviously see why this could become an issue in future for folks like us.

Right now, the FTC can only level fines against a company if they agree to the setting, and don’t actually follow through – but with this legislation, the government could actually force companies – or, say, bloggers with a big enough audience – to obey. It shouldn’t apply to the targeted ad system on Facebook, since any information gleaned while someone is logged into a Facebook account is pretty much voluntarily given, but it may affect Google’s ad systems, since they involve watching what users do instead.

The bill hasn’t made it to the floor yet, as far as I can tell, but in the meantime, discussion is spreading like wildfire across the Internet, with many people sharing their tips on how to keep advertisers from “following” you around the web. For example, Firefox already has a no-track function that would automatically replace tracking cookies with opt-out cookies, and Chrome and IE are supposed to roll out a similar function soon. Another Firefox plugin – BetterPrivacy – will eliminate Local Shared Objects (Flash cookies) in Flash players, so you won’t see an ad on your YouTube video for a laptop after you’ve recently Googled about a laptop.

In addition to that, the Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavorial Advertising group has an opt-out form in beta at the moment (something like the Do Not Call registry for telemarketers), which you can use to see which companies currently have cookies on your browser, and opt out of having them from those that participate in the program. And the Network Advertising Initiative has a similar opt-out program for consumers to take advantage of, too.

It’s important to note that when people use these to opt-out of interest-based advertising from a particular network, it does NOT mean they will see no ads at all. It just means they won’t see ads that have been tailored to their specific browsing history.

So there you have it: another shot fired in the Internet privacy battle. This is definitely something we should all be keeping an eye on now and in future, since it could directly affect the networks we participate in and the ways we market ourselves.

To see some of the discussion I referenced above, check out Consumerist’s post about this (the interesting stuff is in the comments), and Lifehacker’s (article AND comments), as well. It’s a good thing when consumers discuss their privacy rights, but this is also something I think affiliate marketers – and the Internet marketing community as a whole – should be talking about more, too.