DAA Blog

[PHOTO: During DAA Summit 2016, DAA General Counsel Stu Ingis discusses the state of self-regulation and current Federal Trade Commission priorities with Maneesha Mithal of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.]

“Not everyone realizes that one of the key partners of the DAA is the FTC,” said Stuart Ingis, partner, Venable LLP and general counsel, Digital Advertising Alliance, as he moderated a highly interactive policy discussion at the DAA Summit 2016 in Silicon Beach, Los Angeles. “We appreciate all that the Commission has done — and we’d like to hear about the agenda and continued partnership with the DAA.”

FTC Agenda at-a-Glance

According to speaker Maneesha Mithal, associate director, division of privacy and identity protection, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, the FTC’s attention over the coming months will be focused on three main topic areas: sensitive information, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). “We feel that is where we at the FTC should be focusing a lot of our resources… and we have...

Association leaders affiliated with the founding of the Digital Advertising Alliance announced their support today (November 16, 2015) with the unveiling of DAA guidance, "Application of the DAA Principles of Transparency and Control to Data Used Across Devices."

Their reaction includes:

Nancy Hill, President and CEO, 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies)

"This announcement shows once again why robust self-regulatory regimes can be so effective and adaptable. The cross-device ecosystem has exploded in recent years, and - with this announcement - the DAA has moved quickly to ensure that the application of its Principles has kept pace with those new technologies."

James Edmund Datri, President and CEO, American Advertising Federation

"The digital advertising industry is committed to providing consumers with robust information and choice over the interest-based advertising they receive, across new channels and devices. We are pleased that the DAA continues to demonstrate the value of its Self-Regulatory Principles to millions of consumers now using tablets, smartphones, and other devices."

Bob Liodice, President and CEO, Association of National Advertisers

"Lasting consumer relationships with brands are built on trust, and the DAA program builds that trust by giving consumers information and control over the...

From time to time, we are called upon to offer information about how the DAA self-regulatory process works, along with details about the DAA Principles and program, their scope, and how they are enforced, as well as other points. In the past, we have provided such information in Congressional hearings, Federal Trade Commission proceedings, and worldwide technology standard forums, among other public proceedings.

This past week, we had the opportunity to provide comments to a “new” stakeholder in interest-based advertising (IBA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), with regard to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on “Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services.”

We used the occasion of the FCC’s NPRM to inform and to educate the regulatory body about the successful implementation and adoption of an independently enforced, consumer-focused self-regulatory program unlike anything which has existed before. In our comments to the FCC, we articulated the flexibility of our self-regulation program -- well into its fifth year of marketplace implementation. We described the establishment of DAA Principles in 2009, its expansion to Multi-Site Data Collection in 2011, Mobile Guidance in 2013 – among them use of Precise Location Data and Personal Directory Data for marketing, and Cross-Device Guidance in 2015. We reported...

This past month, the Digital Advertising Alliance undertook a fresh initiative to connect with online and mobile consumers about responsible data collection for advertising purposes, the benefits of relevance, and how they can control their interest-based advertising experiences.  With industry support, this consumer education push will run throughout 2016.

As part of this effort, DAA:

• Re-launched our consumer site, youradchoices.com – which is now also mobile-optimized;
• Crafted new creative mobile and digital display ads to let consumers know “YourAdChoices Gives You Control” – a still from which is featured here;

• Received donated impression inventory from an initial “Who’s Who” list of companies in support of this education effort – AOL, AppNexus, Criteo, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and RocketFuel – throughout 2016.We expect more companies to join this effort over the coming months.

We are grateful to all companies that can help support DAA’s Consumer Education Principle so fervently, by donating impressions to support DAA – and the...

With 104,000 marketers gathering at Mobile World Congress 2016 in late February, one dominant conversation was operability connected to responsible data collection and use for interest-based advertising.

While many changes may be in the offing, reliable, meaningful and industry-wide guidance for responsible data collection for interest-based advertising in apps and on the mobile Web are well established.  In the United States, mobile remains a Digital Advertising Alliance priority.

DAA teamed up with our sister organization the European Interactive Digital Advertising Alliance (EDAA) and one of our two Approved Providers TrustArc (the other being Evidon), to take the message of self-regulation, Mobile Guidance, and mobile user transparency and choice to this confluence of global players.

During the event, privacy was a significant part of the conversation – and programming.  Stephen Deadman, global deputy chief privacy officer for Facebook, participated in a panel “Putting Privacy at the Core of Digital” and spoke to the need to balance digital marketplace innovation with transparency and control for mobile users -- themes important to DAA.

Where we stand now in the mobile marketplace:

1. DAA provides...