Privacy Advocates Condemn Abacus/DoubleClick Merger
Junkbusters (www.junkbusters.com) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center have condemned the proposed billion-dollar merger of DoubleClick Inc. and Abacus Direct Corp. The two privacy advocacy organizations argued the merged corporation would have access to too much personal information about consumers, constituting a virtual surveillance machine of each individual’s Internet use.
According to wire reports, the two groups have threatened Abacus and DoubleClick with public protests and requests to regulators to block the deal if the consumer data collector and Internet advertiser do not abandon the merger. A letter outlining the groups’ fears has already been sent to the Federal Trade Commission and to members of congress.
Junkbusters and EPIC also warned the public that Intel Corp.’s computer chip serial numbering plan could be used to track Internet use. Although Intel maintained the plan would improve security for online transactions, it changed the feature to be inactive unless manually turned on by a user.
