The investigation was led by New York Attorney General Eliot
Spitzer. The settlement agreement was also signed by the Attorneys
General of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts,
Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington.
The investigation was launched in 2000, when DoubleClick
announced that it intended to profile web surfers. The company used
cookies to monitor the surfing and shopping habits of web users on
behalf of its clients, and to assess the appeal of on-line banner
ads.
Under the agreement announced yesterday by Spitzer, DoubleClick
will have to adhere to privacy restrictions regarding the
disclosure, storage and use of consumer data, and specifically:
- It will continue to post a privacy policy that discloses its
user data practices;
- It will maintain reasonable procedures to ensure its clients
comply with contract provisions regarding the disclosure of the
type of information DoubleClick does or does not collect;
- It will collect and use user data only in a manner consistent
with the representations DoubleClick made at the time of
collection;
- Data obtained in connection with DART ad serving that are three
months old will be moved off-line;
- It will not share user data collected on behalf of one of its
clients with any person other than the client or as directed by
that client;
- If DoubleClick employs targeting based on anonymous user
profiles, the company will use reasonable efforts to develop
technology that allows a user to securely view any categories
associated with that user’s ad serving cookie;
- It will provide users with the ability to opt-in to an e-mail
notification system that will alert the user to any changes within
DoubleClick’s privacy statement; and
- It will retain an independent third-party firm to conduct three
compliance reviews to verify DoubleClick’s compliance with the
terms of the agreement.
DoubleClick will pay $450,000 to cover the costs of the
investigation.
DoubleClick’s privacy practices were also the subject of a
separate investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission which
ended last year. The company also settled a class action lawsuit
over the same issue.
DoubleClick said yesterday in a statement that the agreement
“will not change the services that [the company] performs for its
clients.” It added that the settlement “does not constitute an
admission that [DoubleClick] has committed any wrongdoing.”
