Archives: Behavioral Advertising

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Key Government and Industry Leaders Discuss Data Privacy at IAPP Summit

Last week in Washington, DC, officials from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, major trade associations and key stakeholders from around the world gathered at a global privacy summit convened by the International Association of Privacy Professionals. During the two day conference, panels covered a broad range of topics from mobile device … Continue Reading

Facial Recognition: The End of Privacy or a Precursor for New Laws?

By Craig A. Hoffman on December 2, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Federal Legislation, Identity Theft

Do you feel compelled to wear a Richard Nixon mask or a baseball hat equipped with infrared signal emitters on the brim when you leave the house? If so, you may be trying to prevent a passerby on the street from guessing your name, interests, Social Security number, or credit score using only a pair … Continue Reading

Snack Food Company’s Social Media Marketing Campaign Directed at Teens Draws FTC Complaint

By Craig A. Hoffman on November 10, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Enforcement

A consumer institute, Center for Digital Democracy, filed a complaint and request for investigation with the FTC on October 19 related to the marketing of Doritos to adolescents. The complaint cites a research report, Digital Food Marketing to Children & Adolescents, which identifies digital marketing practices that purportedly pose threats to the health of children. … Continue Reading

MMA Releases Mobile Application Privacy Policy

By Craig A. Hoffman on October 30, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Information Security

On October 17, in furtherance of their continued support for self-regulation of online behavioral advertising, the Mobile Marketing Association released the MMA Mobile Application Privacy Policy for public comment. The policy is intended to spark self-regulation of privacy and data processing of mobile applications. The policy was created with the input of a committee of market … Continue Reading

Focus on Behavioral Advertising, Part 2

By Craig A. Hoffman on September 2, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising

Last week we reviewed recent tracking litigation. As part of our ongoing focus on behavioral advertising, below is a summary of recent developments regarding Do Not Track legislation, industry self-regulatory efforts in the United States and abroad, and the FTC’s plan to update its Dot Com Disclosures guidelines. FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch, concerned with … Continue Reading

Focus on Behavioral Advertising

By Craig A. Hoffman on August 26, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising

As the FTC is evaluating its Dot Com Disclosures guidelines and Congress considers Do Not Track legislation, the debate over regulation of online advertising has intensified. On one side, opponents of new legislation explain how online advertising subsidizes many of the free services Internet users enjoy and point to studies showing that Internet advertising contributes … Continue Reading

Restrictions on Commercial Advertising Speech in Vermont Data Mining Law Violate First Amendment

By Craig A. Hoffman on July 6, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising

As we briefly discussed here, on June 23, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court in Sorrell v. IMS held that a Vermont statute restricting the sale, disclosure and use of pharmacy records containing the prescribing practices of doctors for marketing purposes by pharmaceutical companies violated the First Amendment’s protection of commercial advertising speech. From a commercial advertising … Continue Reading

Focus on Advertising to Children

By Craig A. Hoffman on July 1, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Children’s Privacy, Online Privacy

The Interagency Voluntary Working Group on Food Marketed to Children released Preliminary Proposed Nutrition Principles to Guide Industry Self-Regulatory Efforts to improve the nutritional profile of foods marketed to children in April 2011. Today, FTC Commissioner David Vladeck addressed 12 myths about the recommendations, including: (1) providing reassurance that the guidelines do not provide a … Continue Reading

Harnessing “Big Data” to Create Value

By Craig A. Hoffman on June 2, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Mobile Privacy

In the wake of the recent breaches at Epsilon and Sony and the scrutiny Apple and Google are facing for their geolocation data tracking practices, there has been little media focus on the benefits of data collection and analysis. Indeed, most of the coverage has been trained on proposed legislation and new regulations that would … Continue Reading

Mobile App and Geolocation Data Roundup

By Craig A. Hoffman on May 25, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Children’s Privacy, Mobile Privacy

A recent national survey of smartphone users, not surprisingly, revealed that privacy, transparency, choice, and control are important considerations for users. Indeed, many users indicated that they want more choices and easier access to controls regarding advertising tracking and geolocation data. Legislators and consumer advocacy groups are taking heed. On May 10, 2011, the Senate … Continue Reading

Senator Rockefeller Introduces Do-Not-Track Legislation

By Craig A. Hoffman on May 13, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Federal Legislation

Similar to the bill introduced by Rep. Jackie Speier in February 2011, Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced the Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011 on May 9, 2011. Sen. Rockefeller announced that the bill would offer a “simple, straightforward way for people to stop companies from tracking their movements online.” The FTC would be given one … Continue Reading

Kerry & McCain Release Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights

By Craig A. Hoffman on April 12, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Federal Legislation, Online Privacy

Senators John Kerry and John McCain introduced the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights at a press conference today. The stated purpose of the bill is to “establish rights to protect every American when it comes to the collection, use, and dissemination of their personally identifiable information (PII).” According to a summary of the bill released by … Continue Reading

Speier Introduces “Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011”

By Craig A. Hoffman on February 14, 2011 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Federal Legislation, Financial Privacy, Online Privacy

The FTC—in its December 2010 online privacy report and testimony before Congress—discussed the need for a browser-based “Do Not Track” mechanism to give consumers greater control over behavioral advertising. Under the “Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011” (H.R. 654)—introduced by Rep. Speier (D-CA) on February 11—the FTC will have 18 months to establish … Continue Reading

Noteworthy Data Privacy and Information Security Events in 2010

By Craig A. Hoffman on December 31, 2010 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Breach Notification, Data Breach Notification Laws, Enforcement, Federal Legislation, Financial Privacy, HIPAA/HITECH, Information Security, Medical Privacy, Online Privacy

The two events that drew the most attention in 2010, both of which occurred at year-end, were reports from the FTC and the Department of Commerce. Below is a brief summary of those two reports and other issues drawing attention in the past year: (1) FTC Issues Long-Awaited Consumer Privacy Policy Report On December 1, … Continue Reading

“Advertising Option Icon” Will Allow Opt-Out of Online Tracking

By Craig A. Hoffman on October 5, 2010 Posted in Behavioral Advertising, Enforcement

A coalition of advertising trade groups launched a new online behavioral advertising (“OBA”) opt-out program on October 4, 2010, to build on the self-regulatory principles they released last summer. The program, which is explained on the group’s website, features an “Advertising Option Icon” that can be placed near online ads that collect data used to … Continue Reading