In a story reported earlier today in the Toronto Star, the Star reported an announcement by Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (“IAB”) Vice-President Sam Parent that online marketers will soon introduce self-regulation for behavioral advertising (see: Advertisers to Police Themselves When Targeting Online Users).
According to the Star, at a Dx3 Canada digital trade show earlier today Mr. Parent said:
“Online behavioral advertising is when we identify you as a user. … People wonder, Is this Big Brother? … Do they know what color hair I have? Do they know my age and income?”
These remarks, and marketers’ decision to introduce self-regulation to govern “behavioral advertising” (defined by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner as “tracking consumers online activities over time in order to deliver advertisements targeted to their inferred interests”), are presumably intended to circumvent legislative and regulators’ efforts to impose restrictions on behavioral advertising.
For example, on December 6, 2011, the federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart announced new online tracking guidelines for advertisers which, among other things, restrict the tracking of children and tracking technologies people can’t opt out of (i.e., turn off) (see: Privacy Commissioner Issues New Online Behavioural Advertising (Tracking) Guidelines).
In announcing new industry self-regulatory measures, Mr. Parent also made a distinction between tracking “devices” as opposed to “people”: “Actually, we are identifying your device, not you …”
According to the IAB, under the advertising industry’s new self-regulation regime, online ads that reach users through behavioral tracking will soon carry arrow-shaped icons in the top right hand corner that, when clicked, will take users to a new website called Privacy Matters Canada where targeted advertising will be explained and users will be given a chance to opt out.
These recent behavioral advertising developments clearly illustrate that advertisers are moving rapidly away from traditional forms of advertising and marketing (e.g., direct mail, print advertising, etc.) and that this is proving challenging to legislators and law-makers to effectively regulate.
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