Apparel company failed to notify consumers of internet ad data grab
In This Corner …
The Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program, a division of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council, took on two more advertisers in its quest to align app and website publishers with the self-regulatory principles embraced by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), which the Accountability Program monitors and enforces. The Accountability Program has now tackled more than 90 public actions.
The latest cases dealt with “enhanced notice” of data collection in an interest-based advertising context.
Ledbury, an online men’s fashion company, found itself in the council’s sights. During routine monitoring, the council discovered that Ledbury had failed to include an enhanced interest-based advertising (IBA) notice on its website; the company added the notice shortly after receiving the council’s notice.
However, the council let Penske Media Corp. off the hook ‒ a recent IBA inquiry revealed that the company had already started fixing up its compliance measures.
The Takeaway
This is not the first time that the Accountability Program has looked beyond the compliance of third parties such as ad networks and examined what first-party publishers tell their users about tracking and targeting occurring on their sites.
The DAA’s principles aim to offer consumers “enhanced transparency and control” through guidelines that “apply to multi-site data and cross-app data gathered in either desktop or mobile environments.” Enhanced notice is one of those mandates; it allows users to click a link (e.g., “About ADs” or “AD Choices”) on the footers of site pages, which will take them “directly to a place where they can learn more about interest-based advertising and find an opt-out tool.” Similar enhanced notice must be placed on all interest-based ads, which is often done using the DAA’s now familiar blue triangle logo that produces a transparency notice when hovered over.
For more information on enhanced notice, visit the DAA website.
Subscribe to AD-ttorneys@law >>
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.