Data Collection

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Last week, the Office of Management and Budget created a new dedicated position for privacy within the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”). The privacy position will streamline the United States Government’s privacy practices, including:

  • Leading efforts to develop and implement consistent, comprehensive and forward-looking Federal privacy policies, strategies and practices across agencies;
  • Collaborating

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Twenty-three privacy authorities worldwide, including several members of the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, issued a joint open letter to seven app marketplace operators, urging them to improve access to privacy information on mobile apps for users. Specifically, the letter addresses providing users with privacy practice information, informing users about the collection and use of data, and implementing protections to ensure privacy practice transparency.
Continue Reading Privacy Push for Mobile Apps

The FTC released its report “Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability”, which calls for more transparency and accountability from the companies that collect, resell or share consumers’ personal information, generally known as data brokers. While the report mentions some of the benefits of these companies, it strongly emphasizes their associated risks, noting that data brokers often store delicate consumer information, potentially exposing consumers to fraud, theft, and other types of consumer harm. One of the FTC’s key findings was that consumers have little access or control over their information once it is provided to data brokers, sparking a call for legislative action for increased transparency and accountability. For more information on this issue, please read the latest post on our Global Regulatory Enforcement blog.
Continue Reading FTC Calling for Legislation in Recent Report on Data Brokers

In an effort to make administration of promotions on Facebook easier, the social media site released new rules permitting Facebook Page owners to host promotions and giveaways on their Page timelines. While hosting a promotion on a Page timeline is certainly more convenient and likely more cost effective for businesses from an administration standpoint, it does have disadvantages that businesses should keep in mind, such as the inability to require users to agree to Official Rules of the promotion and the inability to collect personal data about participants.
Continue Reading Facebook Relaxes Guidelines for Promotions

The Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”), a self-regulatory group that represents marketing and media organizations, released new guidance this week for advertisers in the mobile space. Entitled “Application of Self-Regulatory Principles to the Mobile Environment,” the guidance builds on well-known principles such as notice (or transparency) and choice (or control), and tailors them to the unique challenges that face the mobile environment.
Continue Reading Mobile in the Spotlight with Digital Advertising Alliance Guidance

In 2012, streaming entertainment accounted for almost half of peak Internet traffic.  In 2013, the online viewing phenomenon continues to generate massive amounts of actionable information about named consumers, from interests to habits to schedule to mood.  Until now, the Video Privacy Protection Act – launched in the heyday of VHS – has blocked companies…

The issue of data collection is an important one in online privacy, particularly as it applies to ad networks. This issue is especially contentious in the context of Do Not Track mechanisms. A number of browsers – such as Safari, Internet Explorer, and Firefox – have mechanisms that permit consumers to instruct websites not to track their activities across the web. The FTC has said on numerous occasions, though, that an effective Do Not Track system should go beyond opting consumers out of receiving targeted advertisements; it should opt them out of the collection of behavioral data for all purposes, unless the purpose is consistent with the context of the interaction (e.g., to prevent click-fraud). Such sentiments were expressed in the FTC’s Privacy Report, as well as its testimony before Congress.
Continue Reading FTC Calling On Ad Networks to Limit and Justify Data Collection