DoubleClick Inc. insisted today that it has not and will not use "sensitive" data in its profiles, just as the state of Michigan announced plans to file a consumer protection lawsuit against the embattled Internet advertising company.

In a statement released today, DoubleClick President Kevin Ryan said "DoubleClick has never and will never use sensitive online data in our profiles, and it is DoubleClick's policy to only merge personally identifiable information with non-personally merged with non personally-identifiable information for profiling, after providing clear notice and choice."

Today the Michigan Attorney General's Office filed a notice of intended action against DoubleClick for alleged violations of the state's consumer protection act. "It deals with the failure of DoubleClick to disclose to users that DoubleClick is implanting "cookies," or electronic surveillance files, on their hard drives," said Granholm spokesman Chris DeWitt. The Michigan probe into DoubleClick's activities was launched a number of weeks ago, he said.

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday said it was conducting an inquiry to find whether DoubleClick engaged in unfair or deceptive practices in violation of the FTC act. The New York Attorney General's Office announced its own inquiry into DoubleClick, and at least six lawsuits have been filed against the company, according to the Associated Press.

Juanita Scarlet, a spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, told Newsbytes today, "DoubleClick is voluntarily providing us with information in response to an inquiry by our office about its overall business practices." DoubleClick said yesterday that the New York inquiry was designed to "understand online advertising and the implications for consumers."

In its statement, DoubleClick called on "other Internet players" to adopt strong privacy policies, and proclaimed its own policy was good for consumers and businesses. "We are confident that our business policies are consistent with our privacy statement and beneficial to consumers and advertisers," Ryan said. The company stood by its new privacy policy unveiled on Monday as "the most aggressive Internet privacy policy ever" and reiterated its pledge to only do business with online publishers with privacy policies.

Two months ago DoubleClick bought consumer database Abacus and soon formed Abacus Online Alliance to use its data with consumers' Web activities as a way to target Internet ads. EPIC and other privacy advocates lashed out at DoubleClick and continued their outcry after the company Monday unveiled a banner ad campaign aimed at letting consumers know they could "opt out" of the database. Critics maintained that merely telling Internet users that there is a way to get out of the database is not enough.

EPIC's FTC complaint last Thursday alleged DoubleClick engaged in unfair and deceptive trade practices by "unlawfully tracking the online activities of Internet users and combining surfing records with detailed personal profiles contained in a national marketing database." The group asked the FTC to order DoubleClick to stop the practices.

EPIC this afternoon told Newsbytes it has decided against filing a similar complaint against another company, executive director Mark Rotenberg said. Earlier today, Rotenberg said EPIC may take further action related to its DoubleClick complaint.

DoubleClick Inc., can be found on the Web at http://www.doubleclick.com.

Reported by Newsbytes.com, http://www.newsbytes.com.