On complicated technology policy issues, one voice is too often absent: the people who would be affected. As California grapples with the implications of the nation¡¯s most far-reaching privacy law, it¡¯s time to bring those consumer voices into the debate.

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Last June, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a piece of legislation that will change the way nearly every major business in the state interacts with its customers and uses data. The goals of CCPA are admirable, including increased transparency, control, access, and security for consumers around their personal information, but the bill passed through the legislature on an expedited timeline, leaving limited time for assessment of how it would create an impact on consumers.

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Happily, there is still time to bring those vital consumer voices into the process, as the law grants broad authority over implementation to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, and his office is holding a series of public...

The year ahead will certainly be one where the digital ecosystem is scrutinized closely -- as U.S. policymakers, both state and federal, look to regulate digital advertising in some form. In doing so, the Digital Advertising Alliance Self-Regulatory Program will be offered as an example of how consumer privacy protections can be successfully paired with industry innovation in the private sector.

We welcome this attention. In less than 10 years, we¡¯ve built a program involving hundreds of companies and thousands of brands that continues to deliver powerful social and economic benefits. Consumers are afforded unparalleled transparency and choice regarding data collection for interest-based advertising ¨C more than 1 trillion times per month globally at Internet and mobile scale through...

In digital advertising, good data helps drive good decisions. As Congress begins to consider the shape of privacy legislation, we thought it might be useful for the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) to gather some additional data by asking consumers to share their policy priorities (and potential pitfalls) for any federal privacy legislation that may affect responsible data collection and interest-based advertising (IBA).

To do so, we conducted a survey of 1,000 American adults in November via SurveyMonkey on a range of privacy and data topics. The feedback we received from consumers through that survey was compelling in its pragmatism, and we hope their responses help to inform some of the dialogue around this important topic.

Among the top takeaways from the survey, consumers overwhelmingly want Congress to protect the existing ad-supported funding model for free content and services online, with 81 percent saying it is very or somewhat important for any federal privacy legislation to do so. Consumers also strongly believe any forthcoming legislation also should encourage continued innovation by Internet companies, with 78 percent calling it very or somewhat important.

Source: DAA-Commissioned Survey of 1.059 U.S. Internet Adults, Administered by SurveyMonkey, November 2018.

That is not to...

This summer, one of our two independent Accountability Partners, the Data & Marketing Association, was acquired by another founding association of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Now, DMA is known as a division of ANA, with the DMA acronym representing ¡°Data Marketing & Analytics.¡± [Our other Accountability Partner is the Council of Better Business Bureau¡¯s Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC).]

Importantly, ANA continued DMA¡¯s accountability role of the DAA program. In fact, DMA recently released its first annual ethics report as a division of ANA. The full independently investigated and adjudicated report may be downloaded here [pdf document...

A recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filing to the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) cited both the Digital Advertising Alliance¡¯s research and demonstrated reasonableness of interest-based advertising (the filing uses the term online behavioral advertising, or OBA) in its comments to the NTIA.

[See bold italics?in the following excerpts (bold italics inserted for emphasis.)]

DAA & OBA References:

DAA Survey:

In a section of the FTC¡¯s comments about consumer control, they point to DAA research showing that 92 percent of consumers agreed that free content is important to the value of the Internet. This is validation of both the value exchange argument we make, as well as validation of the graduated privacy permission approach that DAA's Principles embody. The FTC concludes in its comment that that often-discussed opt-in mandates for digital advertising threatens ad funding of this valued content.

"The FTC has long encouraged a balanced approach to control. Giving consumers the ability...