Search results matching tag 'Privacy'

A is for Advergame; B is for Banner...

2175094 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Children today are growing up in a digital society. They will never know what it was like living in a world without the internet or mobile devices. They are digital savvy and their distinction between offline and online worlds increasingly blurs by the day. But being media savvy is not the same as being media literate.

Leading child psychologist Professor Tanya Byron, in her report to the UK Government “Safer Children in a Digital World”, concluded: “We must empower our children to take ownership of their safe and responsible digital behaviour.” Her report talked of the importance of information and education for children and parents. Industry is well placed to deliver this and today sees the launch of a national programme – Digital Adwise - to raise children’s awareness of digital advertising. The not-for-profit programme, aimed at 6-11 year olds, comprises a free set of lessons allowing kids to critically evaluate digital advertising in a fun way - for example there are some interactive activities such as “tag the ad” and "ad maker" – and there’s helpful support information for teachers, such as examples from the IAB’s Creative Showcase. The initiative builds upon the successful MediaSmart programme about television, radio and print advertising, now being used by 38% of UK primary schools. The new materials will also be available to all primary schools.

At an event in London yesterday evening to mark the launch of the programme, Creative Industries Minister, Sion Simon, spoke of the importance of “topical and cutting edge media literacy that teachers want and children can relate to”. He concluded that the whole advertising industry should get behind the initiative, promote it and ensure its success. The IAB agrees and we should all help to spread the message.

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Education, education, education (part three...and final)

2175094 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:00 GMT

I’ve banged the drum in previous weeks about the importance of consumer education about behavioural advertising, and the IAB's recent research has highlighted the need for this.

Today the IAB has published a guide on behavioural advertising specifically for industry, our first step in helping educate the market about this practice (although you’ll be glad to know that this will be my last blog – for now - talking about education). The guide explains how behavioural advertising works, how it differs to other types of targeted advertising on the internet, its benefits to web publishers and advertisers, consumer attitudes as well as online privacy and industry good practice.

The guide – sponsored by technology company Audience Science – hasn’t been written exclusively by the IAB but by the experts themselves, with contributions from the likes of AOL, Guardian, Profero, Post Office, Yahoo!, ValueClick Media and, of course, Audience Science.

It may not make the Amazon bestsellers list (its free after all) but for anyone who wants to know a little more about behavioural advertising, this one’s for you. Enjoy!

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Education, education, education (part two)

2175094 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:45:00 GMT

A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of informing and educating consumers about the internet. This followed a revamp of the IAB’s website – www.youronlinechoices.co.uk – aimed at helping internet users understand online behavioural advertising, how it works and how to switch it off if they want to. Today the IAB, in partnership with business law firm Olswang, has published new research confirming that consumers need (and want) more information and education about online privacy and the practice of behavioural advertising.

The research confirms that consumers today are far more trusting of the internet as a medium, compared with more than five years ago. People – particularly young people – are more comfortable with sharing their personal information with shopping websites, banks and social networking sites. But there’s no room for complacency: consumers may be more acclimatised to the internet and the role it now plays in our everyday lives but they also want to have it on their owns terms and wish to know more about new digital marketing techniques, such as behavioural advertising.

72% of internet users are – unsurprisingly – unaware about behavioural advertising, how it works and what information is collected and used. However, the research results are particularly enlightening when consumers are provided with the relevant information. For example:

• 81% of internet users do not know the level of control they actually have over behavioural advertising, such as their right to switch it off.
• 74% of internet users are actually more comfortable with behavioural advertising when they are provided with information about what data is collected and used and how it can be controlled.

Behavioural advertising remains a relatively new online practice. As the Government’s Digital Britain report acknowledged it is an important business model to help web publishers convert “creativity into value”. Industry needs to find a balance between making advertising more measurable and effective whilst protecting consumer privacy. It’s a balance that the IAB, its members and the rest of the advertising industry is working to get right and education – as this research very clearly shows – needs to be at the heart of it.

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Education, education, education (part one)

2175094 — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:01:00 GMT

It's official: us Brits love shopping online. According to research by price comparison service, Uswitch, 93% of the UK population now shop on the internet (I think that’s 93% of the 2,500 adults they surveyed!). And, as consumers continue to ‘connect’ so advertisers increasingly look to the internet as a platform to get their messages across and sell their wares. The two are mutually beneficial. Some of us just can’t get enough of all this (it’s empowering and addictive). For others the tide of change is uncomfortable and some need help getting connected in the first place (and there’s no one better than digital entrepreneur and Government Digital Inclusion Champion, Martha Lane Fox, to make this happen).

So, it’s important to inform and educate people about the internet. This is not a new message: government, Ofcom and others, including industry, have spearheaded campaigns to help people – particularly parents and children - better understand online and its significant benefits but also the challenges it throws up in our everyday lives. Understanding how to keep safe and secure is lesson number one and many schools build this into their curricula activities as they integrate the use of the internet into children’s learning.

This week the IAB has revamped its consumer website dedicated to explaining behavioural advertising: www.youronlinechoices.co.uk. We launched this site when we published our Good Practice Principles earlier this year to govern the practice. One of the three key commitments is education and many of the businesses involved continually go to great lengths to provide consumers with helpful information. Our website builds on these: providing easy-to-understand information on behavioural advertising, how it works and the role it plays in helping make online content, services and applications available at little or no cost. This is backed up by the other commitments: transparency about what information is collected and used to deliver more relevant advertising as well as the opportunity to opt out or switch it off. So the new website includes a centralised page for consumers to visit to opt out of behavioural advertising by the businesses that are complying with the IAB’s Good Practice Principles. Our future aim is to make this even more user friendly.

The launch of the website marks the point that those businesses that have signed up to the Good Practice Principles and have live commercial UK operations are complying with the commitments. To complement this, each of these businesses’ compliance will be independently verified by auditor ABCe to provide greater assurance in this practice. This is key but its only by explaining clearly what this is all about and how it all works that we can really expect consumers – heavy or light internet users – to accept and understand why we’re taking this approach.

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MMF Berlin - Privacy

2619528 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:19:00 GMT

I'm writing a series of posts about my speech on the "future" of mobile advertising, which I gave at the Mobile Marketing Forum in Berlin last week - here's the first one, in case you missed it. My definition of the future tends to be the immediate two or three years as longer than that tends to start sounding like scifi. That might be interesting, but it's not really the bread and butter we need to be chewing at a mobile marketing conference.

My second subject are was the whole issue of Privacy, which often tends to be the elephant in the conference room at mobile advertising events. However, it is an area that we need to start talking about and coming up with a positive and preemptive plan of action, before some brownie-point seeking politician seeks to regulate what is actually a very responsible industry - and one which has demonstrated an ability to self-regulate. The danger is that any form of digital advertising can easily stir up strong feelings by being accused of "big brother" behaviour, even though real culprits, such as CCTV, is allowed to flourish unchecked.

Advertising generally has a strong and positive story to tell - but if you're here, you probably don't need to be told that. However, in the context of mobile, we play two very important roles. Firstly, we provide consumers with free stuff, which simply wouldn't be available without advertising funding. So when consumers search the web, use social networks or download free iPhone apps, they need to be reminded that these would disappear faster than Morgan Pozgar can sms Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (about 7 seconds) without advertising. Secondly, advertising plays a very important role in helping consumers discover cool new content, products and services which, even if they existed without our funding, they wouldn't be able to find otherwise.

Being able to give consumers relevant ads that they really want to see is also in their interests and we're able to do this best when they share with us what those interests might be. This can be a passive and non-intrusive process, such as allowing us to (up to a point) track their behaviour, such as the types of ads they respond to (and therefore like), or it can be an active engagement where they share certain information about their preferences. An example of this is Out There Media's Tomato Plus opt-in service that was recently tested in Serbia. There, consumers get free calls and sms in return for submitting their profile and receiving ads. Judging from the high response rates (as high as 75%), we'll be seeing this model in other markets soon.

As an industry, we need to start addressing these issues, as we have a great story to tell.

O Google, I surrender my soul to thee

2516287 — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:41:00 GMT

Recently, our office began trialling switching over to GoogleMail for our email. It's great; excellent up-time (relatively speaking), oodles of space and fantastically cheap. This is latest addition of a now quickly growing stable of Google services we use here, along with Docs (for which I'm currently drafting this blog entry), Calendar, Maps, Blogger, Chrome and naturally Adwords and Analytics.

But over the years, we as a collective are becoming more and more dependent on Google, and signing up to new services, sometimes almost blindly, under the spell of "Google Chic". Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been a big fan of Google since it was known in geek academia circles as “that new search thingy that you can use to find references for your research paper". However, I can't help but notice the amount of information that we are blissfully passing to Mountain View under the utilitarianism of the brand. Ultimately, Google is an information company. So what are they doing with all of this information?

Let's entertain a cynical side of me for a second. Here's what Google has the potential to know about you when you've created an account and start using their services:

Search - What you are looking for
Chrome - What you are looking at and what you're interested in
Analytics - What you are doing and where are you going online
Checkout - What you are buying
Calendar - What you are doing offline and when
Maps - Where you are going offline and even where you are right now
Mail/Talk - Who you are talking to
Blogger and Docs - What you are writing about and what is on your mind
YouTube - What you like to watch, listen and create
Picasa - What you like to see, what you and your friends and family look like

To me, this goes beyond the stereotypical Big Brother image of static-ey CCTV cameras following your every move which has provoked headlines for many years now. This is more than knowing what you are doing, it's knowing what you are thinking; and ultimately who you are.

I'm beginning to sound like a nutter conspiracy theorist here. Frankly, I couldn't care less if Westminster CCTV track me walking around Charing Cross station. However, I'd feel more than a little uncomfortable about revealing what I am thinking about and who I am as I'm walking around.

Thankfully, Google are adamant about strict Privacy guidelines. But we are living in an era of marketing where we rely on multiple sources to track users' behaviour and profile them in great detail. To "offer customers better and more relevant services and products", naturally.

Somehow I’m sensing that George Orwell is watching us from above with interest. However, I’d imagine he’d be surprised that the target of interest is a NASDAQ-listed company, rather than the State.

Perhaps Mr Orwell should make sure he clears his browser cache and cookies before logging off.

A BBC licence fee for a digital age?

2175094 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:10:00 GMT

The Government – pioneered by the departing Communications Minister, Lord Carter – today unveiled its final Digital Britain report.

There is welcome acknowledgement of the contribution digital advertising – in particular targeted advertising - will make in helping to monetise online content. The Government also attaches significant importance to self-regulation and education in promoting transparency and protecting internet users’ online privacy, supporting the IAB’s Good Practice Principles for behavioural advertising, as well as www.youronlinechoices.co.uk, the new portal to help educate users. There is also encouraging news in the appointment of Martha Lane-Fox, one of the pioneers of digital commerce, as the Government’s digital inclusion champion.

But all eyes are on two specific proposals contained in the 238 page report which will alter the digital landscape in the years to come:

1. A 50 pence per month levy on all fixed copper and cable lines (but not mobile infrastructure) from 2010 to fund the rollout of next generation broadband. According to Lord Carter that’s £6 per year per household, although low income households would be exempt. The fund would raise between £150-175m a year, allowing next generation rollout to be complete by 2017, a timescale specifically criticised by the Conservative Culture Spokesperson, Jeremy Hunt.

2. Ring-fencing the BBC’s underspend for the so-called Digital Switchover Help Scheme (ie money the BBC receives to help vulnerable people switch to digital TV services - over and above its existing licence fee settlement) to help finance the delivery of regional news, other than that provided by the BBC. This ‘Contained Contestable Element of the Licence Fee’ idea is not the so-called ‘top-slicing (to you and me that’s ‘sharing out’) of the BBC’s licence fee, as has been widely reported in the media.

Significantly, this second proposal fires the starting gun of the licence fee review (due in 2013) and the beginning of a wider discussion about how the BBC’s licence fee should apply (and in what form) in a digital age (eg we don’t pay the licence fee to access the BBC’s website or the iPlayer). The report moots maintaining a ‘Contained Contestable Element’ of the licence fee after 2013 and, in his briefing to industry this afternoon, Carter did not rule out this money being used for (non-BBC) children’s content and programming.

If there is to be a lasting legacy of this report then this is it. The Government has effectively sounded the death knell on the BBC’s licence fee as we know it today and kicked-off the debate about how we fund public service content in a digital age.

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Transparency, choice and education is the way forward for online privacy

2175094 — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:20:00 GMT

A parliamentary body of MPs and Peers – the All Party Parliamentary Group on Communications – is to conduct an inquiry into internet traffic, including behavioural advertising and online privacy. The Group asks whether the Government should intervene over behavioural advertising or whether it should leave it to users, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and websites. The Group also asks whether there is a need for any new initiative to deal with online privacy. The Group has sought ‘written evidence’ from interested parties and will be meeting with key stakeholders in mid-June.

The IAB has submitted a response to the Group specifically addressing these two questions. You can read a copy of our response here. Our response provides the Group with an introduction to behavioural advertising, how it works, how it differs to contextual and demographic online advertising, the different business models and the benefits to internet users, content producers and publishers, and advertisers.

The IAB’s response argues that transparency, choice and education is the way forward for online privacy. Its four key points are:

1. Government intervention over behavioural advertising services is not necessary at this time. The current legal framework is sound and efforts should focus on transparency of what data are used and how and on securing user trust.

2. The parliamentary group should encourage self-regulatory initiatives to address privacy concerns relating behavioural advertising, in particular the IAB’s Good Practice Principles which seek to build greater transparency and user trust.

3. The UK Government should press for amendments to the Council of Europe’s draft Recommendation on ‘Profiling’ that seeks to extend the current EU data protection legal framework in areas such behavioural advertising, so that industry can have legal certainty and recommendations are not damaging to business.

4. The Group should welcome and support ongoing self-regulatory and educational efforts, rather than recommending a new approach or initiative on online privacy.

The IAB will be hoping to provide ‘oral evidence’ to the Group next month. A final report is expected in the autumn.

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Phorm blocked by Amazon

2454396 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:33:00 GMT

Web tracking service Phorm has been officially blocked from scanning Amazon web pages according to a news story from the BBC.

The controversial service being trialed by BT scans keywords on the web pages visited by browsers by analysing data at the ISP, this information is then used to serve adverts.

While this is technically legal a lot of controversy still exists over how users should sign up for the service and there is significant indignation about the invasion of privacy caused by such indiscriminate tracking.

My earlier post gives details on the FTC ruling on hehavioural targeting in the states, while the European courts are discussing the possibility of regulating the storage of cookies in browsers, more details on that from Patricio Robles.

All in all it looks like the privacy pressures are coming at the Behavioural Targeting industry from every side.

Is Google setting the industry standard on privacy?

2175094 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:00:00 GMT

With the IAB’s Good Practice Principles for behavioural advertising still ‘hot off the press’ (to use an old media term!), Google this week launched its own ‘interest-based advertising’ global product across its AdSense partner sites and YouTube.

Google’s new venture meets the core commitments of notice, choice and education enshrined in the IAB Good Practice Principles (Google is a signatory) and the privacy-enhancing tools in the product will help to build greater consumer trust in more relevant advertising fuelling the “content, products and services available on the internet today”. Specific features will provide internet users with the following:

• Clear information about the collection and use of data for interest-based advertising by clicking a ‘label’ on the advert itself. The IAB’s Good Practice Principles specifically offer this (Guidance Note 1C) as an option to signatories to meet the commitment to provide ‘clear and unambiguous notice to users.’

• A clear choice as to whether the user wants relevant interest-based advertising or not. Google will have a clear ‘opt-out’ option as well as a ‘plug-in’ to download on a user’s web browser in order to maintain that choice in the event that they decide to delete all the cookies on that particular web browser. A clear opt-out for the collection and use of data for behavioural advertising (over and above where consent is required – for example when personal data is collected) is another requirement of the Good Practice Principles (2.1).

• Clear information on the product and the privacy features on the Google privacy channel on YouTube (see also below). This will be linked to the IAB’s new website – www.youronlinechoices.co.uk – as outlined in the Principles (3.2).

• An option on what types of advertising they see by adding or removing ‘interest’ categories using the Ads Preference Manager.

These are welcome steps. All of the signatories to the IAB’s Good Practice Principles have excellent privacy-enhancing tools, but Google’s features will certainly set a precedent for the rest of the industry to follow.

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