Advertisers tackle online privacy with self-regulation initiative
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US-- Four marketing and advertising industry associations in the US are hoping to allay privacy concerns around online behavioural advertising by working together to develop self-regulatory principles.
The joint industry task force plans to engage with policymakers, business and consumers. It is currently examining the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) draft principles for self-regulation, set out in December 2007.
The group is made up of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), which works to promote marketplace trust, is also part of the effort.
Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA, said: “Behavioural marketing provides enormous benefits to consumers, but it is our responsibility as marketers to ensure the web-surfing public's privacy interests remain protected. Strong and comprehensive self-regulation strikes a balance that both protects the public interest and allows marketers to provide relevant advertising, which is particularly critical during this period of economic downturn.”
Jeff Chester of consumer advocacy group the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) welcomed the news, saying it showed the marketing community was “blinking” in the face of potential restrictions on its freedom under a new government. “The US online ad business is terrified of a new administration that could rein in abusive consumer practices. This is an attempt to head off those difficulties,” he said.
Meanwhile the CDD, together with the US Public Interest Research Group, is calling on the FTC to look more closely at mobile advertising, claiming that threats from the ‘traditional' online world are now migrating online.
Chester said mobile ad targeting was particularly disturbing because of the potential to determine a person's location, to encourage impulse buying without proper consideration by the consumer and to target teenagers and children.
Author: Robert Bain
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