Web users don’t want to be followed

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Steve Chiotakis: How much information should Web sites be allowed to collect about us?
A new survey out today suggests most Americans think less than they already do. Here’s Marketplace’s Alisa Roth.

Alisa Roth: About two-thirds of the people surveyed said they don’t want advertisers to follow their activity online. And even more object when they hear about all the different ways advertisers have to keep an eye on them.

The survey’s part of a study coming out today from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley. It’s a big issue these days: How to deal with tracking online activity. The FTC says it’s planning to take it up, and so is Congress.

Advertisers often use sites like Facebook to say young people don’t mind sharing information online. But one interesting thing is the survey responses were similar across all ages.

In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.