Yahoo Tech has released a report about the efforts of a group of advertising associations to instill a set of rules and regulations to give the consumers the privacy they expect and let marketers keep the freedoms that government intervention would likely hinder.
The main idea behind these guidelines is the provision of transparency in tracking practices and easier opt-out for consumers. The guidelines are being presented by trade associations that represent 5,000 companies – this consortium includes the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers, Direct Marketing Association, the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Better Business Bureau.
An impressive roster, which comprises some of the nation’s largest companies, including Google Inc., General Electric Co., Microsoft Corp., Coca-Cola Co. and Procter & Gamble Co.
The guidelines recommend that companies tell consumers exactly when they’re being tracked, work to educate consumers about web tracking, give them an easy opt out, ensure “reasonable” security for the data they collect, limit how much data they retain and for how long, and get consumer approval before making material changes that would erode privacy protections – particularly in areas such as children’s personal information, financial data and medical records, which all agree require extra levels of security.
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour weighed in on the proposal:
“Consumers deserve transparency regarding the collection and use of their data for behavioral advertising purposes. I am gratified that a group of influential associations – representing a significant component of the Internet community – has responded to so many of the privacy concerns raised by my colleagues and myself.”
Google Managing Policy Counsel Pablo Chavez talked about the topic on the Google Public Policy Blog:
“When we launched our own interest-based advertising product in March, we worked hard to include several innovative features to give users more control and information — including ads labeled ‘Ads by Google,’ a tool called the Ads Preferences Manager (which lets users view, add, and remove the categories that are used to show them interest-based ads), and the choice to opt out of interest-based ads altogether.”
“One of the key strengths of the principles is the fact that they apply to a broad range of companies participating in online advertising — advertisers, publishers, and ad networks. Of course, for any self-regulatory effort to be effective, there has to be some kind of enforcement process. Between now and early 2010 — when the principles are expected to be implemented — the Better Business Bureau and Direct Marketing Association, two of the groups involved, will work to set up that process to make sure it has real teeth.”
Rian Schoeman
SilverFox Web Design
