This article first appeared in Cyberlaw Currents, a Frankfurt Kurnit legal blog.
The Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) has announced the first six compliance agreements with online behavioral marketers under its Online Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program's (Program) self-regulatory regime.
Beginning in August, the Program began testing the functionality, usability, and duration of consumer-choice mechanisms offered by a number of companies. As a result of that testing, self-regulatory inquiries were opened with Forbes Media Extension (FMX), Martini Media, PredictAd, QuinStreet, Reedge and Veruta. The cases primarily concerned the duration of end users' opt-out options. For example, FMX's opt-out cookie was set to expire in less than six months from the date of the request, rather than the industry standard five-year time frame. Other cases involved the accessibility of the opt-out mechanism. QuinStreet's and Veruta's (MyBuys) opt-out mechanisms, for example, were inaccessible due to either a missing or broken link.
According to the CBBB, all six companies have voluntarily modified their policies to comply with the Self Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising. For details regarding the decisions, view the National Advertising Review Council's press release. Genie Barton, CBBB Vice President and Director of the Program noted, "Where companies do not self-monitor and promptly correct problems, they can expect the Accountability Program to take action."
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