WASHINGTON, DC — A new consumer watchdog group led by a former AOL exec and sponsored by AT&T promises to hold internet companies accountable for the ways in which they collect, store, use and share consumer data.The Future of Privacy Forum (FutureOfPrivacy.org), which bowed November 17th, is composed of scholars, attorneys and corporate officials who hope to shape in consumers’ favor national and international policy regarding behavioral targeting in marketing contexts. The organization will be led by Jules Polonetsky, formerly AOL’s chief privacy officer.

Increasingly online marketers are coming under scrutiny for invading consumers’ privacy while gathering data that can be used to match advertising to targeted consumers’ whims. Congress and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have held hearings about the matter, and both have indicated they are willing to regulate the practice if company’s overstep consumer comfort levels. In addition, President-elect Barack Obama has indicated privacy is one of the technology issues his administration intends to address, especially in the area of making government more transparent while protecting citizens.

The forum already has said it will encourage marketers to require consumers to opt-in before being tracked across the internet, in contrast to the status quo opt-out methodology.

Polonetsky told The Washington Post an organization like the forum is of paramount importance right now, because in a slumping economy, “advertisers are looking increasingly more to data to decide which marketing campaigns will be cut and which will survive. There’s a rush to make deeper decisions that will impact privacy.”

The Future of Privacy Forum joins other consumer advocacy groups like the Center for Democracy in Technology and the Electronic Privacy Information Center in providing a voice for consumers in the electronic age.