Online privacy concerns seem to be a very active topic in recent weeks, particularly the practice of Behavioral Targeting (BT). With April 11th being the deadline for comments due in to the FTC regarding BT and privacy concerns many organizations are weighing in.
As one would suspect the ad industry is arguing that new regulations should not be imposed – some argue that existing voluntary guidelines are overly restrictive. On the other side, privacy advocates argue that there should be rules that honor users preferences about whether they wanted to be tracked online or if they wanted to receive targeted ads.
The Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group are credited with starting the debate over BT. The original 50-page complaint filled with the FTC in 2006 can be found here. An overview on the topic can be found in PDF from the FTC’s website.
I feel the real issue is identifiable information, or PII. I have been writing a lot lately about Deep Packet Inspection or DPI that is a form of BT. The fear is that DPI is overly intrusive and although not PII, identifiable enough. One organization that has advocated the prohibition of sensitive personally identifiable information is the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI).
The NAI, as stated on their web-site about is a self-regulatory “cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies committed to building consumer awareness and establishing responsible business and data management practices and standards.” The NAI currently represents 15 organizations such as Google and AOL, including three recent additions such as; Yahoo’s BlueLithium, Mindset Media and Media6degrees. More on the NAI’s principles can be found here.
The NAI today released Network Advertising Initiative Proposes Updated Principles which included enhanced consumer protections. There are four main updates:
- Clarified “sensitive” consumer segment prohibitions
- New rules requiring opt-in consent for certain “restricted consumer segments”
- Prohibition against creating behavioral advertising segments specifically targeting children under the age of 13
- Enhanced data security requirements
Saul Hansell of The New York Times today sums it up nicely. “If you’ve got AIDS, cancer or erectile dysfunction a group of big advertising networks are going to promise not to remember that you read sites about those topics and remind you (or others using your computer) of your condition with ads for related drugs as you surf the net.” Further perspective can be found by Zachery Rodgers of The ClickZ Network, Network, NAI Unveils Revision of Behavioral Targeting Code.
One thing is for sure; there is a lot of money at stake and many marketing decisions will ride on the FTC’s ruling. Comments relating to Behavioral Targeting are due into the NAI by June 12th, 2008.
The New York Times has excellent coverage of ISP data monitoring which readers will find relevant.
Online privacy concerns seem to be a very active topic in recent weeks, particularly the practice of Behavioral Targeting (BT). With April 11th being the deadline for comments due in to the FTC regarding BT and privacy concerns many organizations are weighing in.
As one would suspect the ad industry is arguing that new regulations should not be imposed – some argue that existing voluntary guidelines are overly restrictive. On the other side, privacy advocates argue that there should be rules that honor users preferences about whether they wanted to be tracked online or if they wanted to receive targeted ads.
The Center for Digital Democracy and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group are credited with starting the debate over BT. The original 50-page complaint filled with the FTC in 2006 can be found here. An overview on the topic can be found in PDF from the FTC’s website.
I feel the real issue is identifiable information, or PII. I have been writing a lot lately about Deep Packet Inspection or DPI that is a form of BT. The fear is that DPI is overly intrusive and although not PII, identifiable enough. One organization that has advocated the prohibition of sensitive personally identifiable information is the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI).
The NAI, as stated on their web-site about is a self-regulatory “cooperative of online marketing and analytics companies committed to building consumer awareness and establishing responsible business and data management practices and standards.” The NAI currently represents 15 organizations such as Google and AOL, including three recent additions such as; Yahoo’s BlueLithium, Mindset Media and Media6degrees. More on the NAI’s principles can be found here.
The NAI today released Network Advertising Initiative Proposes Updated Principles which included enhanced consumer protections. There are four main updates:
- Clarified “sensitive” consumer segment prohibitions
- New rules requiring opt-in consent for certain “restricted consumer segments”
- Prohibition against creating behavioral advertising segments specifically targeting children under the age of 13
- Enhanced data security requirements
Saul Hansell of The New York Times today sums it up nicely. “If you’ve got AIDS, cancer or erectile dysfunction a group of big advertising networks are going to promise not to remember that you read sites about those topics and remind you (or others using your computer) of your condition with ads for related drugs as you surf the net.” Further perspective can be found by Zachery Rodgers of The ClickZ Network, Network, NAI Unveils Revision of Behavioral Targeting Code.
One thing is for sure; there is a lot of money at stake and many marketing decisions will ride on the FTC’s ruling. Comments relating to Behavioral Targeting are due into the NAI by June 12th, 2008.
The New York Times has excellent coverage of ISP data monitoring which readers will find relevant.
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