U.S. cable TV ad plans may face privacy concerns

"We can find ways to make dog owners hold up their hands so we can put dog food ads only in those households," he said.

Analysts are hedging their bets on whether privacy concerns would become an issue, even if Canoe operated within its legal boundaries.

Craig Moffett, analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said though Americans are coming to terms with lower privacy standards in their lives, cable operators would still need to separate customer details from set-top box IDs to avoid complaints.

"It's all but certain that the cable operators will have to set a third-party clearing house for information to safeguard privacy concerns," Moffett said.

Reuters/Nielsen