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Editor: Matt Paines

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ISP halts plans to monitor surfing habits

A leading US internet service provider has put plans to monitor its customers' surfing habits on hold, amid criticism that the practice would be akin to wiretapping.
 
Charter Communications, which is the country's fourth-largest cable provider, announced that it was backing away from plans to work with behavioural targeting company, NebuAd, to collate information about customer interests based on their browsing activity.
 
Charter wanted to sell the data to advertisers, who could use it to develop more targeted campaigns.
 
Chairman of the US House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on telecommunications and the internet, Edward John Markey, said that the company had made the right decision.
 
He said that it would have allowed profiling of an individual- where they were going and what they were doing online- and there was no guarantee that this information could not ultimately be compromised.
The practice of behavioural targeting remains a controversial issue, which is popular with online advertisers but regarded with deep suspicion by internet users.
 
Behavioural targeting is stuck in a paradox where consumers feel uncomfortable with the idea that their online activity is being tracked- yet they still want more relevant ads.

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