Blogs

A firestorm of anger has erupted in the advertising industry against the decision of Microsoft to incorporate a Do-Not-Track turned on as default system in the forthcoming edition of its Internet Explorer (IE) browswer.  The online ad lobby--including the self-regulatory group called the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA)--is fearful of having better privacy as the default.  They know that defaults matter, and that from the get-go the millions of IE users may be sending a powerf

CDD is the co-author of the TransAtalantic Consumer Dialogue policy statement on mobile marketing and privacy--entitled "Protecting Mobile Privacy in a Hyper-local World."  It raises many of the key concerns often not part of the debate.  On 5 June 2012, at the US State Department, this document was given to officials from the EU's DG Justice, the FTC and the US Department of Commerce.

The Wall Street Journal reported late last night that Facebook is working on a plan to enable children under 13 to use its service, a way of being compliant with the law that my wife and I helped pass back in 1998 (COPPA).  Working with a coalition of child advocacy, public health, consumer and privacy groups, we are also behind the FTC's current COPPA review designed to strengthen its implementation for the mobile and social marketing era.

The data collection on individuals is accelerating, who increasingly find themselves in a maze constructed of their online and offline information.  This can affect how creditors and others view your financial status--and has real-life implications for a consumer's future prospects.  Later this week, USPIRG and my CDD will present a paper on this issue at a conference hosted by the National Consumer Law Center and Suffolk University Law School.  Meanwhile, here is an excerpt from a recent industry post that ill

"VivaKi’s dedicated R&D entity, the Nerve Center,  and BlueKai, the world's most connected customer data cloud for data management, analysis and activation, have co-developed a new data platform called Audience Insights that will provide marketers with unmatched scale, data aggregation capabilities and safety standards.  ...By ingesting data from campaigns on DoubleClick and Atlas, Audience Insights synchs data via

We are approaching a political tipping point where the global public will demand new regulatory safeguards and responsible data practices from industry leaders.  The mergering of Big Data techniques with Big Digital Ad Targeting of individuals online, inc.

Last week, I spent several days working with privacy and consumer NGOs, along with Mozilla and privacy tech maven Jonathan Mayer advancing the interests of consumer/citizen privacy in the digital era.  The forum was the Worldwide Web Consortium's Tracking Protection Working Group in-person meeting in Washington, DC.  As my colleagues at EFF and

At the forefront of how digital marketing impacts public health, we are pleased CDD's recent report has played a useful role at the FTC.  Here's an excerpt from AdWeek: 
 

My CDD has long been concerned about the human rights and privacy consequences of US companies exporting digital tracking technologies to undemocratic regimes.  Ad Exchanges are the latest example of dehumanizing online marketing services that track users 24/7 and sell the right to target them online in real-time.  Google operates one of the largest of these exchanges through its DoubleClick subsidiary.  Last week, Google launched its Ad Exchange in China, which will have consequences for both its citizens and consumers.  Privacy and human rights advocates and regul

The online ad industry developed its data-collection business model without ever considering the privacy consequences.  Advocates and regulators have forced the industry to begin to address the privacy and some of the digital consumer protection issues.  But the commitment to privacy from the industry is tepid, at best.  Afterall, the harvesting and analysis of massive amounts of information from and about us is the digital golden goose enriching Google, Facebook, WPP and others.  In order to fight regulation, the US online ad lobby dreamed up their "icon"