The Senate Commerce Committee began Wednesday to look at how online companies collect and use data about Internet users for advertising, and was told by several big Internet companies that it needs to pass a new law to enforce privacy standards for a range of online and offline activites.Privacy lawyers working for both Google and Yahoo both endorsed the idea of some kind of legislation. So did — predictably — Leslie Harris, the chief executive of the Center for Democracy and Technology, an activist group.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/senators-weigh-possible-rules-for-advertising-and-online-privacy/