self-regulation

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet recently held a hearing entitled “New Technologies and Innovations in the Mobile and Online Space, and the Implications for Public Policy.”  Much of the discussion focused on the relative merits of self-regulation versus the enactment of comprehensive federal privacy legislation.  (Separately, the Senate Commerce Committee has announced that it will hold a hearing on the adequacy of self-regulation in protecting consumer privacy on June 28.)

In his opening remarks, Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC) discussed the need for “baseline progressive legislation that will provide certainty to both consumers and companies, and promote a healthy online economy.”   Rep. Watt appeared to support the White House framework of enacting comprehensive federal privacy legislation that would be complemented by industry codes of conduct.  Emphasizing the importance of legislation, Watt surmised that, “without a baseline set of principles with the force of law, privacy policies may be used by larger players in an anti-competitive manner to drive smaller players from the market.”Continue Reading House Hearing Discusses Merits of Comprehensive Federal Privacy Legislation, Self-Regulation

The Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising continues to gather steam.  Last month, after the Program garnered favorable mention in the FTC’s final privacy report, a representative of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (one of the DAA’s participating organizations) announced that the Program’s Advertising Option Icon is now being served in more…

In the face of calls by the FTC for improved mobile privacy protections, as well as interest by members of Congress, mobile advertising companies are actively working on privacy initiatives.  Yesterday, a group of companies in the mobile advertising industry announced that they are working to create an industry standard for anonymous mobile device identification. …

The Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”), a coalition of more than 80 online advertising companies committed to self-regulation, released a report this week finding that there is a high degree of compliance with the NAI’s Self-Regulatory Code of Conduct, which governs the use of consumer data for purposes of online behavioral advertising.   In particular, the report concludes…

In a speech this week at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy Daniel Weitzner announced that the Administration will soon roll out a “privacy bill of rights,” which he described as a “broad, high-level statement of principles” that could be enforced by the FTC.  Weitzner emphasized…

Earlier this week, the industry self-regulatory program set up by online advertisers to deal with reported privacy problems released decisions in its first six compliance cases.  The Online Internet-Based Advertising Accountability Program, which was established in August, determines whether reported businesses are complying with the self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising.  The Better Business Bureau…

Yesterday, the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) announced the release of new “Self-Regulatory Principles for Multi-Site Data,” voluntary self-regulatory standards to govern the collection, use, and sharing of data concerning user activity across non-affiliated websites.  The DAA, an umbrella organization for advertising trade groups, already maintains self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising (OBA).  Notably, while the OBA Principles apply only to data collected for behavioral advertising purposes, the new Multi-Site Data Principles encompass all collections, use, and disclosure of multi-site data regardless of purpose.  The DAA expects its new principles will be implemented in 2012.
Continue Reading DAA Releases “Self-Regulatory Principles for Multi-Site Data”