You have no secrets from NebuAd

11-18 note: see my later post for more and updated information on this story.

A new ad delivery system unveiled this week by NebuAd will provide advertisers unprecedented details about your web access activities, allowing them to place their advertising more effectively.

Unlike conventional ad delivery companies that track your choices when you log onto a site that is part of its network, NebuAd takes the concept one frightening step further, tracking your browsing via your internet service provider (ISP).

The difference? Think of the typical ad delivery system as a lookout that spots you when you pull into the parking lot of the mall, who then alerts all the merchants that you've arrived, so they can put up the appropriate displays for your tastes.

In this analogy, NebuAd would be a guy staking out your house, ready to tail you, or your children, wherever you go, reporting your comings and goings to anyone willing to pay for the information.

The company claims that it aggregates and anonymizes the information such that it can't be misused, a claim that I view with great skepticism. As the FTC probes privacy issues and internet advertising, this company will probably serve as the stalking horse. If it's allowed to thrive, there will be little left to defend.