This technology, if implemented, allows the company to serve advertisements based on information people enter into a search engine or registration page. The company will not implement the technology unless it gets approval from an independent privacy board, Hosea said. A group headed by legal expert Harvey Silverglate is looking into the technology. Nonetheless, the prospect of having people under surveillance makes some privacy advocates nervous. Most individuals will not agree to be put under surveillance unless there's an incredible incentive to do so.
Online privacy is a contentious issue that recently has caused consumer alarm.
Earlier this year, online ad network DoubleClick came under fire when the company revealed a plan to track consumers' movements online and to attach that data to people's real names and addresses. Predictive's Hosea does not think his company's software product will come under similar scrutiny. He said Predictive will never attach an identity to a profile and will never sell its database of specific profiles to advertisers. Rather, advertisers buy targeted advertising space in bulk. Furthermore, Hosea said that the company is trying to be less intrusive with its pop-up ads.