The FTC is asking data brokers to develop an industry-wide Web portal that would identify the companies and explain what information they collect and how they use it.

The new report puts the finishing touches on a staff-level draft of consumer privacy recommendations that the agency issued in December 2010, updating that document with legislative proposals and the imprimatur of the commission's leadership. As it looks ahead, the FTC plans to continue its work with industry stakeholders in the hopes of advancing work on do-not-track and other privacy practices. The agency is planning to convene a privacy workshop May 30.

The commission also continues to collaborate with the White House and Commerce Department, which earlier this year , a framework that drew on input from the FTC and other agencies.

In the meantime, the FTC will continue to exercise the authorities it has under existing statutes, which, while limited in the online privacy sector, empower the agency to target specific companies for unfair or deceptive practices.

Last year, for instance, the FTC took actions against two leading Web companies that have been at the forefront of the online privacy debate, reaching settlements with Google and Facebook under which the firms agreed to long-term monitoring and independent auditing of their data-collection and usage practices, among other conditions.