As calls to regulate behavioral targeting practices grow louder, the interactive advertising industry appears to have at least one friend in Washington -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In an interview with The New York Times, Lydia B. Parnes, the director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection, said that she favors industry self-regulation.

"When we come out and say we think people should follow these general principles, surprisingly at the end of the day industry steps up," Parnes said.

But that sentiment may not be shared by lawmakers, who held hearings last week to consider legislation that would effectively dictate the standards by which advertisers and technology vendors could collect and use personal data.