We are sharing this blog post by our colleague Vivek Krishnamurthy regarding an article in last weekend’s New York Times Magazine that discusses the powerful statistical techniques that some companies are using to analyze sales and other data in order to gain insights into their customers’ behaviors and needs. The article raises a number of interesting consent and privacy issues. Vivek’s practice focuses on corporate social responsibility,… More
Tag Archives: behavioral advertising,
FTC to Host Public Roundtables in December to Address Evolving Consumer Privacy Issues
The Federal Trade Commission will host a series of public "roundtable discussions" to explore the privacy challenges posed by "technology and business practices that collect and use consumer data," including social networking, cloud computing, online behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, and the collection and use of information by retailers, data brokers, third-party applications, and other diverse businesses. The FTC’s expressed goal of the meetings is to determine how best to protect consumer privacy while supporting beneficial uses.… More
House Subcommittees Hold Joint Hearing On Behavioral Advertising
On June 18, 2009, the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet on the topic of “Behavioral Advertising: Industry Practices and Consumer Expectations.” The subcommittee members explained that they hoped the hearing would help determine the need and possible parameters for new legislation governing privacy and behavioral advertising. More
FTC Chairman Pushes for Increasingly Specific “Self” Regulation of Behavioral Advertising
In recent weeks, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz has encouraged the behavioral advertising industry to adopt increasingly specific "self" regulatory measures to address privacy concerns. Behavioral advertising, which the FTC has described as the practice of “tracking of a consumer’s activities online . . . in order to deliver advertising targeted to the individual consumer’s interests” is a concern for consumer groups. Consumers’ concerns range from the transparency of the process to the adequacy of security measures in place to protect information compiled,… More