FTC Issues Revised Behavioral Advertising Guidelines
In a 55 page report, the FTC has issued revised behavioral advertising guidelines. The revised guidelines, which are not a significant departure from the prior guidelines, have been widely criticized by privacy advocates, who had been pushing for more regulation in this growing area.
The revised guidelines are set forth below, with the new changes marked. Again, it must be emphasized that the principles below are mere guidelines for self-regulation and do not require any company to comply with any or all of them.
A. Definition
For purposes of the Principles, online behavioral advertising means the tracking of a consumer’s online activities over time – including the searches the consumer has conducted, the web pages visited, and the content viewed – in order to deliver advertising targeted to the individual consumer’s interests. This definition is not intended to include “first party” advertising, where no data is shared with third parties, or contextual advertising, where an ad is based on a single visit to a web page or single search query.
B. Principles
1. Transparency and Consumer Control
Every website where data is collected for behavioral advertising should provide a clear, concise, consumer-friendly, and prominent statement that (1) data about consumers’ activities online is being collected at the site for use in providing advertising about products and services tailored to individual consumers’ interests, and (2) consumers can choose whether or not to have their information collected for such purpose. The website should also provide consumers with a clear, easy-to-use, and accessible method for exercising this option. Where the data collection occurs outside the traditional website context, companies should develop alternative methods of disclosure and consumer choice that meet the standards described above (i.e., clear, prominent, easy-to-use, etc.)
2. Reasonable Security, and Limited Data Retention, for Consumer Data
Any company that collects and/or stores consumer data for behavioral advertising should provide reasonable security for that data. Consistent with data security laws and the FTC’s data security enforcement actions, such protections should be based on the sensitivity of the data, the nature of a company’s business operations, the types of risks a company faces, and the reasonable protections available to a company. Companies should also retain data only as long as is necessary to fulfill a legitimate business or law enforcement need.
3. Affirmative Express Consent for Material Changes to Existing Privacy Promises
As the FTC has made clear in its enforcement and outreach efforts, a company must keep any promises that it makes with respect to how it will handle or protect consumer data, even if it decides to change its policies at a later date. Therefore, before a company can use previously collected data in a manner materially different from promises the company made when it collected the data, it should obtain affirmative express consent from affected consumers. This principle would apply in a corporate merger situation to the extent that the merger creates material changes in the way the companies collect, use, and share data.
4. Affirmative Express Consent to (or Prohibition Against) Using Sensitive Data for Behavioral Advertising
Companies should collect sensitive data for behavioral advertising only after they obtain affirmative express consent from the consumer to receive such advertising.
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Jacqueline Klosek, Senior Counsel in the Business Law Department of Goodwin Procter LLP, is a frequent author and commentator on data privacy and security. You can email her at jacquelineklosek@gmail.com -
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