DAA Blog

As the U.S. Congress begins to deliberate the contours of a national standard around privacy, recent enforcement news from Europe around the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) highlights the value and effectiveness of our uniquely American model for industry self-regulation and enforcement, coupled with a federal backstop for non-compliance. In some ways, this U.S. model could almost be considered co-regulation, a combination of industry leadership with the support and muscle of the federal government, as needed.

Rather than the “...

There’s been some discussion over the last week about the effectiveness our current self-regulatory regime for digital interest-based advertising. There is always room for improvement, a goal toward which the digital advertising industry continually works collaboratively with policymakers (and which has resulted in policy updates every two years to keep pace with this rapidly-evolving medium).

More importantly, an objective historical review would recognize the tremendous success of the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) YourAdChoices program in advancing consumer privacy while preserving innovation over the last ten years.

Because it’s difficult to judge the value of any program in the abstract, let’s apply the “It’s a Wonderful Life” test from Frank Capra’s iconic movie to consider how digital advertising might work for a modern George Bailey without the DAA’s self-regulatory program.

This week, the Digital Advertising Alliance had the opportunity to provide comments at a California public rulemaking workshop on privacy policy making – as the state’s Office of Attorney General promulgates regulation concerning the California Consumer Privacy Act (CaCPA or CCPA), which is set to take effect on January 1, 2020.

The February 13 hearing in Fresno gave the opportunity for DAA to provide an oral and written statement, sharing lessons learned from our self-regulation program that has been in market for almost a decade. We articulated how the YourAdChoices Icon serves as a transparency notice for consumers – globally more than one trillion times each month – and how control is afforded to the consumer by way...

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.

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.

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 – more than 1 trillion times per month globally at Internet and mobile scale through...