The Federal Trade Commission has released a report urging social networking sites to set up a "do not track" mechanism for consumers to allow them to opt out of online behavioral advertising. But don't go looking for some government website similar to the national Do Not Call registry. This proposed list would be maintained via the very tool that tracks consumers: cookies.

The FTC urges social networking sites to set up a "browser-based mechanism through which consumers could make persistent choices" as to whether they want to be tracked:

The most practical method of providing uniform choice for online behavioral advertising would likely involve placing a setting similar to a persistent cookie on a consumer's browser and conveying that setting to sites that the browser visits, to signal whether or not the consumer wants to be tracked or receive targeted advertisements.

What are you for?

The report also calls for more secure data retention and simplified privacy rules. The agency doesn't have any regulatory authority to order sites to do this, of course, but the report notes that "to be effective, there must be an enforceable requirement that sites honor those choices." That requirement could be created via industry standards, FTC Chair Jon Leibowitz noted in a press conference held on Wednesday, or it could be enacted by Congress.

"A 'do not track' browser setting would serve as an easy one stop shop for consumers to express their choices, rather than on a company-by-company basis," Leibowitz told reporters, adding that Microsoft, Google, Mozilla, and Apple have already experimented with the concept.

Then came this warning:

"With respect to 'do not track,' we are giving companies a little time, but we'd like to see them work a lot faster in making consumer choice a lot easier," the FTC's boss declared.

"I'd like to make one final point," he added. "Some companies support what we're doing. I noticed a very nice blog post this morning from Intel. But we know that others will claim that we are going too far. To those highly paid professional naysayers, I have only one question: 'What are you for?' Because it can't possibly be the privacy status quo'."

Will surely be needed...

Since the FTC is soliciting public comment on this proposal, the report asks for specific kinds of feedback on the 'do not track' idea. How should this mechanism be offered and promoted? How might consumers react to the option? Would they choose to avoid targeted advertising?

And "what is the likely impact if large numbers of consumers elect to opt out?" the report asks. "How would it affect online publishers and advertisers, and how would it affect consumers?"

Lastly, "If the private sector does not implement an effective uniform choice mechanism voluntarily, should the FTC recommend legislation requiring such a mechanism?"

That legislation question is, of course, the proverbial elephant in the room, with Capitol Hill running regular conferences on the privacy question.

"From my perspective, and I'm speaking for myself," Leibowitz emphasized, "a legislative solution will surely be needed if industry doesn't step up to the plate. Keep in mind that privacy protection is the most bipartisan of issues. It's not just Senator Rockefeller holding hearings on privacy legislation, it's Senator Thune (R-SD), it's Joe Barton (R-TX), it's Henry Waxman (D-CA). It is very bipartisan."