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.
Privacy and Personalization
Reaction to the FTC Staff Report: Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising Industry has been left with a very narrow window to prove that they can offer users both privacy and personalization. The guidelines proposed are both technically feasible and business practical, but do require businesses to do more to ensure that consumers are equal […]
New from TRUSTe on Behavioral Advertising
It is particularly pleasing that this checklist lays out some of the leading practices of the future for behavioral advertising – ways to give users more transparency and control, and minimizing the retention of data that is not needed. From the document: Self-regulation is a process often preceded by leading companies beginning to strengthen practices […]
The Future of Privacy Forum Consumer Privacy Agenda for the New Administration
1. Appoint a Chief Privacy Officer to Promote Fair Information Practices in the Public and Private Sectors. We embrace the idea of government catching up to industry by creating the central role of a Chief Technology Officer, as has been announced. But we also point out the need — recognized by hundreds of privacy-sensitive companies […]
Online Privacy Decisions Confront Obama
Washington Post By Kim Hart January 13, 2009 Page D04 President-elect Barack Obama is about to face his first tests on consumer privacy, with questions about how much personal information Internet companies should be able to collect about consumers, how long they should keep that data, and whether they should use it to serve ads […]
The Future of Privacy Forum Consumer Privacy Agenda for the New Administration
1. Appoint a Chief Privacy Officer to Promote Fair Information Practices in the Public and Private Sectors.
We embrace the idea of government catching up to industry by creating the central role of a Chief Technology Officer, as has been announced. But we also point out the need — recognized by hundreds of privacy-sensitive companies — for a senior level Chief Privacy Officer, someone to ensure that data protection is a central consideration for technology, data and policy decisions. Although many federal agencies have privacy officers, the fact that data is increasingly available across government entities demonstrates the need for a central figure to lead U.S. efforts to respect citizen data. To ensure that the data needed to combat terror will be available while appropriate oversight is in place to protect essential freedoms, the Administration should have an accountable, executive-level figure to drive an agenda based on responsible data practices.
FPF Commends Yahoo Privacy Announcement
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) applauds the Yahoo! announcement today that the company has sharpened its privacy practices with a new global data retention policy. FPF Co-chair Jules Polonetsky called for such steps last week in his blog posting. We are delighted to see a great example of advancing privacy in a business practical […]
Search Log Files – Ad Server Log Files
Microsoft has agreed with the Article 29 Working Party of EU data regulators that they will remove cookies and IP addresses from search data after 6 months, but only if Google and Yahoo also go along. We will comment further about this, but are already thinking about the next issue – ad server log file […]
Where does your data go … before you even click
Who’s watching you while you’re shopping? This holiday season you may be getting more of a mouthful of cookies then expected. You may not be aware that when you visit a site you’re actually a part of a complex advertising and marketing mechanism.
Use our data to buy us drinks!
Why do we think that right now, as 2009 approaches, there can be real progress on privacy? Because some of the most senior marketers in the industry are starting to sound like privacy advocates. Read this comment about advertising on social networks and then click here to see who said it! “I have a reaction […]
Consumer Choice and Relevant Advertising
The CEO of BlueKai, an online behavioral targeting and marketing company, makes some interesting points about giving consumers more control over their online profiles. The company’s profile viewer, which displays the categories they have put you in and which lets you edit your preferences, is no silver bullet, but it is one piece of the […]