The calls for an online privacy bill of rights and codes of conduct for Internet companies, with enforcement by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. But several privacy groups questioned whether the codes of conduct would be effective because of the paper's suggestion that affected companies help write them.

The policy recommendations in the report are an "early Christmas gift to the data collection industry," said John Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog.

Internet-based groups have been creating their own codes of conduct for years, and Web-based tracking and data collection continue to grow, said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America. "The solution is not more self-regulation," she said. "That seems to be the main thrust of the Commerce Department report."

The report seems to give more attention to concerns of Web-based companies than to consumers, with little change in online data collection likely, other privacy advocates said. The report is "designed to marginalize consumers," said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.

The Commerce Department proposal would give companies that comply with the codes of conduct safe harbor from some enforcement actions, added Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. But the Commerce Department has in privacy agreements with the European Union, Dixon said.