The strict new privacy restrictions come after a two-and-a-half-year investigation into DoubleClick's business practices and how it gathers internet users' personal information.
The new rules will mean that web surfers will now be entitled to access online profiles on them held by DoubleClick, which gathers information on users by depositing cookie files on people's computers.
Cookies are small files that are loaded on to computers and allow companies like DoubleClick to track the websites that they go on to visit. In DoubleClick's case it then uses the information gathered to help it target more relevant advertising.
The new rules imposed on Doubleclick will be seen as sending a message out to other online advertisers who collect private information on individuals. Privacy groups are saying that other online ad firms will have to take note of the new rules in order to avoid similar penalties to those suffered by DoubleClick.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, whose office led the probe, told Associated Press that the settlement could help rebuild confidence in e-commerce: "When an online contractor can invisibly track nearly every online consumer, consumers deserve to know the privacy cost of surfing the web."
The case was sparked by DoubleClick's decision in 2000 to use personal profiles to bolster the appeal of online banner ads. The investigation was conducted by attorneys general from 10 US states -- Arizona, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington.
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