{"id":134,"date":"2015-03-03T10:46:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T16:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/?p=134"},"modified":"2015-03-03T10:46:20","modified_gmt":"2015-03-03T16:46:20","slug":"appchoices-behavioral-advertising-controls-gone-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/2015\/03\/03\/appchoices-behavioral-advertising-controls-gone-mobile\/","title":{"rendered":"AppChoices – Behavioral Advertising Controls Gone Mobile"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online behavioral advertising (also known as “interest-based” advertising and “targeted” advertising) is the use of\u00a0information collected about an individual’s online behavior (e.g, web browsing history) to serve\u00a0online\u00a0advertisements through ad networks tailored\u00a0to that individual’s interests. Online behavioral advertising is\u00a0broken into two categories — first party<\/em> (online ads served on a website\u00a0based on an individual’s online behavior on that website<\/em>) and\u00a0third party <\/em>(online ads served on a website based on an individual’s online behavior on other websites<\/em>).\u00a0Online behavioral advertising is designed to increase the\u00a0click-through rate by serving ads of greater interest to consumers. \u00a0Studies have shown that a majority of consumers prefer targeted\u00a0online ads over irrelevant\u00a0ones. \u00a0However, behavioral advertising also raises privacy concerns, as to deliver targeted advertising to an individual you need to collect information\u00a0about that individual (and the scope of collected information could be broad, potentially including sensitive information).<\/p>\n

Back in 2009, the FTC released a report on online behavioral advertising recommending industry-self regulation of third party online behavioral advertising (and implying they would step in if industry self-regulation was ineffective). \u00a0In response to the FTC’s report, a group of advertising and marketing trade associations\u00a0including the Direct Marketing\u00a0Association, Interactive Advertising Bureau, Better\u00a0Business Bureau, and Network Advertising Initiative formed the\u00a0Digital Advertising Alliance<\/strong>. \u00a0The DAA developed the “AdChoices” program to provide consumers with the ability to control\u00a0whether data about them can be used for third party online behavioral advertising purposes.<\/p>\n

The primary consumer-facing aspects of the\u00a0AdChoices program are (1) the DAA Icon<\/strong><\/a>, an “i” in a triangle, which companies can use to\u00a0provide more\u00a0prominent notice of that company’s interest-based advertising practices; and (2)\u00a0the\u00a0Consumer Choice page<\/a><\/strong>, a web page introduced in 2010 through which consumers can opt out of the collection and use of web viewing\u00a0data for online behavioral\u00a0advertising and other applicable uses. \u00a0It’s a good idea for companies to include a link to the Consumer Choice page in their privacy policy.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, more and more advertising (including behavioral advertising) is served through ad-supported mobile apps. As a result,\u00a0last week the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”) introduced two enhancements to\u00a0the\u00a0AdChoices program to extend it to mobile apps:<\/p>\n