Privacy groups on Thursday criticized the Federal Trade Commission’s new policies on targeting advertising by tracking consumer behavior online, saying they don’t adequately protect the public, including children and people with sensitive medical conditions.
Although privacy advocates acknowledge that the FTC took some steps toward greater clarity, they complained the commission largely adhered to its Bush administration policy of self-regulation.
“It failed to protect consumers here,” said Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy in Washington, D.C. “This announcement today is directly connected to the failure of the FTC to oversee the consolidation of control of advertising in the online marketplace.”
In a long-awaited report Thursday, the FTC largely left intact its principles governing the notice, choice and control that companies should give consumers when they track their activities to refine the type of advertising they get.
Through such behavior-targeting practices, someone who visits a golf site might be labeled a golf enthusiast and offered a pitch for a golf vacation package, even when visiting a site that is completely unrelated.
The new guidelines add a few clarifications:
• Excluded are sites that do not share the behavioral information it collects with outside parties. This applies when sites sell and display ads in-house.
• Companies that collect data outside the traditional Web site context should make sure that disclosure and choice remain clear and easy to use. This seems aimed at mobile applications and partnerships that some Internet service providers have with companies like NebuAd Inc. to display ads based on general surfing, not just at a particular site.
• Companies should consider limiting how long they keep data.
The FTC said companies should obtain “express consent” from consumers before collecting sensitive data, such as tracking children’s behavior, health histories and Social Security numbers. But it leaves to others to come up with standards on what qualifies as sensitive.
The guidelines do not have the force of law but could be relied upon by FTC staff as it decides which cases to investigate and pursue.
They “still fall short of the regulatory authority of the agency to step in and protect consumers,” said Lillie Coney, associate director at Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More