Addressing the privacy issues related to advertising technology and online tracking has been a key focus since FPF’s founding. Increasingly, the mobile advertising space, geo-location tracking, and indoor positioning technologies are at the forefront of online data management, retail, and new consumer offerings. Thus, it is not surprising that regulators, industry leaders, and advocates are taking a hard look at questions about how to appropriately collect and handle consumer data for advertising, location-based targeting, and audience measurement. Additionally, as public awareness of targeted and personalized advertising grows, organizations are pushed to deliver more helpful, relevant ads by less intrusive means. FPF curates a gallery of leading practices, provides up-to-date analysis of emerging and evolving technologies, convenes stakeholders in a monthly working group call, and works with policymakers, advocates, and other stakeholders to support leading privacy practices for the use of location data.
Future of Privacy Forum and Israel Tech Policy Institute Cyber Week Delegation, 2022
Last week, The Future of Privacy Forum’s (FPF) Israel Tech Policy Institute (ITPI) welcomed a delegation of trailblazing privacy professionals from around the world to participate in Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week conference and to meet with start-ups, regulators, and academics. The week started with an illuminating tour of the Peres Center for Peace & […]
Event Recap: Dublin Privacy Symposium 2021, Designing for Trust: Enhancing Transparency & Preventing User Manipulation
Key Takeaways The biggest challenge to increase UX transparency may be encouraging people to make deliberate decisions from a UX design perspective. Even designers’ color and shape choices in UI can be subtle ‘dark patterns’ that might even prevent, e.g., color-blind users from understanding the options at hand. Organizations should ask themselves whether they should […]
Talking to Kids About Privacy: Advice from a Panel of International Experts
Now more than ever, as kids spend much of their lives online to learn, explore, play, and connect, it is essential to ensure their knowledge and understanding of online safety and privacy keeps pace. On May 13th, the Future of Privacy Forum and Common Sense assembled a panel of youth privacy experts from around the […]
iOS Privacy Advances
Law and legislation take the lead in setting standards for protecting personal data, but the policies and norms established by companies also play a central role. This has been the case particularly for global platforms providing the services used by billions in the course of daily life. Apple’s 2020 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) previewed a […]
ICYMI: FPF Webinar Examines Policies to Protect Child Privacy Online
FPF experts share updates on the “evolving space” of child privacy
MythBusters: COPPA Edition
Following YouTube’s September settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), YouTube released a video in late November explaining upcoming changes to their platform. The YouTube creator community responded in large numbers, with numerous explainer videos and almost two hundred thousand comments filed in response to the FTC’s […]
Location Controls in iOS 11 Highlight the Role of Platforms
From Pokémon Go, to the geo-targeting of abortion clinics, to state legislative efforts, the last year has seen significant attention paid to the many ways our apps use and often share location data. In the midst of this heightened awareness of geo-location privacy, iPhone users and app developers may notice a difference this Fall, when Apple will be releasing updates to iOS 11 that will increase users’ control over how their geo-location may be collected and used. The changes highlight the ongoing importance—and legal implications—of platform settings for consumer privacy.
Privacy Chutzpah: A Story for the Onion?
I recently received an email promoting a campaign by a group called Some Of Us, an organization that generates petitions opposing various activities of large companies. This campaign was directed at Facebook, calling on the social network to not sell user data to advertisers. Facebook has recently announced plans to allow advertisers to target ads to Facebook users based on […]
Senate Commerce Testimony on Privacy and Self-Regulation
On June 28, Ohio State law professor and FPF Senior Fellow Peter Swire testified before the Senate Commerce Committee on “The Need for Privacy Protections: Is Industry Self-Regulation Adequate?” Other witnesses were: Alex Fowler, Global Privacy and Policy Leader for Mozilla; Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the Association of National Advertisers; and Berin Szoka […]
Center for American Progress Hosts Program on “Do Not Track” with Focus on Kids
With a room filled to capacity this morning, the Center for American Progress hosted a special presentation entitled “Tracking: Where You Are, What You See, and What to Do.” Neera Tanden, the Chief Operating Officer for Center for American Progress moderated the panel which featured a keynote by FTC Commissioner Julie Brill. Panelists included FPF […]