Net effect-is service getting too personal?

WASHINGTON -- Consumer privacy, says Rep. Joe Barton, 'is the sleeper issue of this Congress.' Certainly it's the only issue that finds Mr. Barton, an unstintingly conservative Republican from Texas, on the same side of a debate as Rep. Edward Markey, an unfailingly liberal Democrat from Massachusetts. Mr. Markey led the successful battle this summer to amend the banking bill and limit a bank's ability to sell information about its customers. Mr. Barton, who allied with Mr. Markey on the banking measure, says he intends to attach similar provisions to his bill that would deregulate the electric-utility industry. 'Most people think routine transactions with their bank or electric company ought to be private,' he says.

Most nervous about this budding trend on Capitol Hill is the Internet service industry. Privacy is a major reason big-name Internet companies announced last week they are forming a lobbying group called 'NetCoalition.Com.' Included are the top tier of the business: Amazon.com, America Online, DoubleClick, eBay, ExciteHome, Inktomi, Lycos, theglobe.com, and Yahoo.In announcing the coalition, AOL's Steve Case said he believes 'the future of the Internet will be determined more by policy choices than technology choices.' That may sound like overstatement. But privacy is one issue that could make it true.

That's because the next wave of Internet innovation is in the area of personalized marketing and services. Companies such as Amazon.com are eagerly assembling and sorting massive amounts of information on customer preferences. Their aim is to know what book, record or other product you want before you know it, and then market it directly to you.

Such personalized service has its attractions. Mike Saylor, who runs a data-mining firm called MicroStrategy in McLean, Va., is trying to build what he calls the first 'consumer intelligence' network. Ultimately, he would alert you via cell phone if there's traffic on your commuter route, if your favorite rock band is performing nearby, or if you buy medicine that might cause adverse reactions. The goal, he says, is to 'make it easy for people to find the information they need.'

But it makes a lot of people, and a lot of members of Congress, nervous. They aren't so sure they want the books they buy, or the groceries they purchase, or the Web sites they choose to visit, so readily available.