In Complaint to FTC — Marchex Named

Amended complaint from consumer groups targets call tracking technology.

The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) amended a petition to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today to launch an investigation into mobile advertising and privacy concerns. The note calls out domain name firm Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX) for its VoiceStar subsidiary. As stated by the complaint:

…Marchex surreptitiously gathers data on mobile users and even records calls made in response to ads. Marchex’s call tracking service enables mobile advertising providers to: “(i) track the calls generated by advertisements on their network, (ii) determine exactly which advertisements delivered the calls, (iii) track and note key information counting the duration, time of day and geographic location of callers, and (iv) record the calls. Marchex makes this information available to the mobile advertising provider through its comprehensive reporting interface…

Marchex gathers this data (counting recording phone calls) without adequate notice to
the consumer, making it difficult for a mobile user to weigh the costs and benefits and
choose whether to opt out of this profiling. This constitutes unfair and deceptive practices,
and the Federal Trade Commission ought to scrutinize these actions.

I don’t understand what the big problem is. I suppose these are the same types of organizations that oppose using cookies in web advertising. The only thing that would concern me at all regarding this service is if the geographic location of callers pinpoints a user location as opposed to just a city/metro area.

The full complaint is online (pdf).