Government affairs
Draft profiling restrictions no risk to research, says Esomar
FRANCE— Draft restrictions on the use of profiling techniques will not affect the work of market researchers, according to a clarification sent by the Council of Europe to Esomar.
StatsCan recommended against census change, admits minister
CANADA— Statistics Canada advised against government plans to drop the mandatory long-form census in favour of a voluntary alternative, industry minister Tony Clement has said.
Health department puts Dr Foster joint venture under review
UK— The future of Dr Foster Intelligence, a healthcare information and data analysis firm co-owned by the Department of Health, is under review. Ownership options are being considered, a spokesman said.
House of Lords to hold behaviour change inquiry
UK— Behaviour change interventions are all the rage in the Conservative–Liberal Democrat government – but are they all they are cracked up to be, asks the House of Lords?
FTC chief says do-not-track idea is still on the table
US— A do-not-track mechanism allowing web users to opt-out of having their online behaviour monitored for the purposes of targeted advertising is under consideration by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), its chairman Jon Leibowitz has revealed.
'Uncertainty' over public sector cuts affecting research, says QA's Bryan
UK— The prospect of government spending cuts and uncertainty over where the axe will fall is leading to delays in commissioning research studies and to some projects being pulled, according to QA Research managing director Richard Bryan.
MRA relieved as Congress rejects move to expand FTC powers
US— An attempt to increase the power of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been ditched by Congress – a move welcomed by the Marketing Research Association (MRA), which feared that industry self-regulation would be put at risk.
MRIA warns Canada against ditching mandatory long-form census survey
CANADA— The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) has written to the government to oppose plans to drop the mandatory long-form census in favour of a voluntary questionnaire, warning it will lead to “skewed” and “biased” data being used to formulate public policy.
ICO urges easy opt-out of online tracking, but EU demands opt-in
UK— The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has advised web publishers and advertisers to allow site visitors to easily opt-out of having their behaviour tracked amid concerns about how such data is being used to target advertising.
UK government rolls out 'Spending Challenge' consultation
UK— David Cameron today kicked off a promised consultation exercise on ways to reduce government spending, asking public sector workers and members of the public to share their ideas on where to make cuts.
COI ponders payment by results
UK— Market research companies employed by the the Central Office of Information could soon be subject to a system of payment by results.
MR spend criticised as UK government department reveals £31m research bill
UK— Spending by the Labour government on market research and polling came in for criticism this morning from the new Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition as the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) published a breakdown of all expenditure over £500.
Congressmen push website owners to reveal visitor tracking practices
US— Congressman Ed Markey and Joe Barton are calling on major website owners including MSN, Comcast and AOL to divulge how they track visitors to their sites, what information they collect and how its used to target advertising.
Government marketing freeze saves £6.5m – but costs 287 jobs
UK— The UK government’s freeze on marketing and advertising has saved £6.5m since June – but those savings have come at the cost of 287 jobs at the Central Office of Information (COI).
Canada's chief statistician resigns in protest at government plans for census
CANADA— Chief statistician Munir Sheikh has resigned as opposition mounts over government plans to replace the mandatory long-form census with a voluntary questionnaire.
Questions raised over gov't claims on census complaints
CANADA— The Canadian government says it is abolishing the long-form mandatory census because of privacy concerns raised by citizens – but those claims have been undermined by the country’s privacy commissioner, who says there have been only three complaints in the last decade.
CRG pays back $300k to Canadian government over 'insufficient records'
CANADA— Corporate Research Group (CRG) has voluntarily paid back more than $300,000 to government administrative body Public Works Canada after an audit found that proper records had not been kept for five projects it was commissioned for.
UK Ministry of Justice opens data protection consultation
UK— The Ministry of Justice is inviting people and companies to have their say on current data protection law in the UK, as part of a continuing review of the European Union’s data protection directive.
MRA weighs in on MR confidentiality as FDA probes Phillip Morris
US— The Marketing Research Association has warned the Food and Drug Administration thats its demands to see the results of research carried out by tobacco giant Phillip Morris could violate confidentiality by identifying survey respondents.
FDA orders tobacco giant to hand over market research
US— The Food and Drug Administration has ordered tobacco firm Philip Morris to hand over all market research relating to the rebranding of its Marlboro Lights cigarettes as ‘Marlboro Gold’.
US government health survey could move to private contractor
US— The organiser of the National Health Interview Survey is considering taking on a private contractor to run the survey from 2014.