If you’ve got kids, or are fortunate enough to be of an age where you can really remember what it’s like to be a kid, then the phrase “Don’t make me come in there!” voiced in an angry parental tone probably rings a bell. Well, kids, get ready for a little déjà vu all over again, as the Twitter synopsis of the upcoming FTC report on behavioral advertising could well read just that way.
As reported in today’s MediaPost, FTC commission member Julie Brill made some comments this week that previewed the direction of the upcoming report. While the good news, according to Brill, is that the report will not recommend that Congress enact any new laws, the troubling aspect is that she hinted at several areas in which we, as an industry, have fallen short of expectations in protecting consumer privacy; including notification of behavioral tracking and serving, improvements in the type of notices provided, and even support for both an online version of the “Schumer box,” and a Do-Not-Track option for consumers.
Other recent comments have been less guarded. David Vladeck, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, recently said that he was “disappointed” in our industry’s progress on these issues, stating “I urge the industry to get moving quickly … consumers – and the FTC – may lose their patience.”
As we’ve all seen, the government has been reluctant to put its foot down too firmly in regulating the online space (see the FTC “guidelines” for disclosure, and the FDA’s consistent use of reprimand, but lack of official guidance, in online pharma marketing). But these recent comments smack of a diminishing amount of patience with our industry. It sounds like us kids had better start calming down and playing nicely, or the grown ups are going to come into the room and start taking away our toys.
We’re all for self-regulation in this industry, and support the efforts of groups like the IAB and DMA in developing the “Advertising Option Icon.” We understand the benefits of better ad targeting – for both advertisers AND consumers. We also understand and support consumers’ privacy rights, and encourage a system that allows consumers to distance themselves from those potential benefits if that’s what they choose.
For far too long, we’ve let our industry’s good name and the positive potential that we can bring to market through our technologies be sullied by the SPAMmers, phishers and all other sort of cheats that prey on consumers online. Let’s band together, clean up our playroom and show the grown ups in the Fed that we really are big kids and can play all by ourselves.
Authored by Tim
