For its part, the FTC is making a number of legislative recommendations, including support for a baseline online privacy bill, though not necessarily one that includes the do-not-track mandate. Rather, the agency is advocating for a bill that would codify basic principles about transparency and the ownership of data, specifically enshrining the precept that consumers own and should have control of their personal information.

"I think that's a pretty conservative notion and I think it's one with a lot of bipartisan support," Leibowitz said. "We don't endorse a particular piece of legislation, but we endorse the notion of it."

The FTC is also calling for data security legislation and a law that would create new rules concerning transparency and choice for data brokers, a set of companies that are deeply involved in the exchange of consumer information online, but that largely operate behind the scenes. As a matter of practice, the FTC's ability to initiate legal action against a bad actor is significantly limited by its statutory mandate, and many of these companies may not be covered by areas in which the agency has explicit enforcement authority, such as its powers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

FTC officials have recently that data brokers, by operating out of public view, aren't subject to the consumer backlash and reputation damage that arise when a prominent company makes a privacy misstep, factors that can serve as powerful incentives to protect consumer information.

"It's not like you're going on Amazon or you're going on Netflix and you have a direct interface with the company ... whose site you're on," Leibowitz said. "We're talking about data brokers who online and off collect information and consumers have no idea that the information's being collected or how it's being monetized and sold."