Did you know that your attention is a commodity? It can be bought and sold — just not by you.

Charter Communications last week informed its high-speed Internet customers in Newtown and three other test markets around the country that it is offering an “enhanced online experience” by providing online ads that are more “customized” to our interests and activities on the Internet. They plan to do this by tracking the browsing habits of its high-speed Internet customers and selling that data to the Silicon Valley firm NebuAd, which will quickly turn a perceived interest in golf tournament results into golf club ads on the fringes of a computer’s monitor.

The idea that what you pay attention to is a private transaction between your senses and your brain is a quaint, outdated notion, according to Internet service providers (ISPs). They are increasingly co-opting that “attention data” and turning it into a revenue stream. To its credit, Charter Communications has been upfront about its intentions to do this, telling customers about this “service” before it is rolled out in June. Other ISPs start keeping tabs on customers without even telling them. Still, the Charter/NebuAd partnership has prompted a couple of congressmen, including the influential chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, to call for a delay in the implementation of this venture until its compliance with privacy provisions of the US Communications Act can be assured. Connecticut’s Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is also questioning the legality of the practice.

Charter and NebuAd have stressed in their explanatory documents that the tracking will collect and store only anonymous information that does not personally identify its customers, and they refer those with doubts to their privacy policies. (The privacy policies include, however, the standard caveats that they may be changed at any time, with revisions posted on the respective corporate websites. Continued use of the service following that posting constitutes acceptance and consent of the changes, whether you were aware of the change or not.)

We will concede that this new “service” may indeed be an enhancement for many of Charter’s customers. Having one’s own span of attention become a closed feedback loop for itself may be gratifying for many people, and they should have every right to opt in to such a service. Unfortunately, Charter is presenting this as an opt-out service, meaning that if you do not want Charter to market your “attention data” to a third party only to have it be marketed back to you, you must permit Charter to place a “cookie” (a small text file of information indicating your preferences) on your computer. This must be done for each web browser on a computer and for each computer in a household. And if you clear your cookies routinely to maintain the performance of your computer, as most people do, you will have to opt out again, and again, and again.

We would have no problem with this initiative by Charter Communications if it were offered to those who consciously choose to participate. Unfortunately, there will be those who have not read all the details in the promotional material or the privacy policies that might raise questions and concerns. While these details may escape their notice, they should understand that from here on out nothing they do on the Internet will escape the notice of the new corporate owners of their “attention data.”