WSJ: Ad groups pursuing Web privacy initiative - FierceTelecom

The Wall Street Journal reports that advertising industry trade groups--including the American Association of Advertising Agencies, the Association of National Advertisers, the Direct Marketing Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau--are near to completing development of standards designed to keep Internet users informed about information that advertisers are collecting from them and how it is being used.

The self-regulatory effort, which may include an icon on Web ads that users can click on to find out more information about the privacy and information usage guidelines that apply, might be a step in the right direction, and could take some of the heat off of the service providers enabling the data collection...