In its Tuesday letters sent to the lawmakers on the House Commerce Committee, an alliance of as many as ten US privacy and consumer groups have sought Congress action for the purpose of restricting the capability of Web sites and advertising networks, whereby they can track Web users and serve them targeted ads.

The alliance suggested that new federal privacy laws for Web users should include the pre-requisite for companies to seek opt-in permission from users within 24 hours of collection of their personal data and for tracking their online habits.

The advocacy organizations' group said in its letters: "Today, information from consumers is collected, compiled, and sold secretly, all done without reasonable safeguards."

The Center for Digital Democracy; Electronic Frontier Foundation; and US Public Interest Research Group and World Privacy Forum are among the organizations that comprise the alliance and signed the letters, which were addressed to Democratic Reps. Rick Boucher, Bobby Rush, and Henry A. Waxman; and Republicans Cliff Stearns, George Radanovich, and Joe Barton.

Saying that users should be protected "as long as they can be distinguished as a particular computer user based on their profile," the alliance also proposed a ban on data collection data users below 18 years of age. The privacy advocates also recommended that the Federal Trade Commission to create a 'do-not-track registry', just like the existing 'do-not-call registry'.