ANA: FTC Threatens Self-Reg Program By Supporting Do-Not-Track Tools

The Federal Trade Commission's recent support for new browser-based do-not-track mechanisms could undermine the ad industry's new voluntary privacy initiative, Association of National Advertisers President and CEO Bob Liodice said Wednesday.

"I speak for all our association partners when I say the FTC's recent, aggressive support for browser-based solutions has definitely confused the marketplace and threatens to hinder the progress of self-regulation," Liodice said in a statement issued at the American Association of Advertising Agencies' annual conference. "As our associations and technology partners have strived to sign up participants for our self-regulatory program, more than a few have said, 'Why do I need to bother, if it's going to be built into the browsers?'" he added.

Liodice was responding to remarks made at the conference on Tuesday by David Vladeck, the FTC's Consumer Protection chief. Vladeck's comments about new no-tracking tools "seemed to be encouraging the development of multiple, unaligned programs," Liodice said. He was speaking on behalf of the umbrella group Digital Advertising Alliance, which includes the Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Direct Marketing Association and Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Vladeck reiterated the FTC's call for Web companies to develop a mechanism that allows consumers to opt out of tracking. He also praised new efforts by major browser developers to "give consumers control over their online tracking," according to a written version of his remarks.

While do-not-track often is compared to do-not-call, the two initiatives are very different. Consumers who join the government's do-not-call registry are able to avoid almost all telemarketing calls. But do-not-track would only enable users to avoid receiving online ads targeted to them based on their Web-surfing history.

Since the FTC formally urged companies in December to create a do-not-track mechanism, three browser developers have released different versions of the feature. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 allows users to create lists of third-party servers to block or allow. When ad networks (and other companies) appear on users' blacklists, IE9 will prevent those entities from appearing as third parties on publishers' sites. The tracking protection feature only blocks third parties, meaning that the browser will not prevent publishers from serving their own ads.

Mozilla's Firefox recently began offering users the ability to enable a do-not-track header. That header notifies ad networks that users don't want to be tracked, but networks need not honor users' preferences. Google's Chrome offers a "Keep My Opt-Outs" that allows users to permanently express a preference to opt out of online tracking and ad targeting by companies that participate in the self-regulatory program.

Industry executives say that consumers can opt out of online behavioral targeting through the self-regulatory program run by the Digital Advertising Alliance. That organization recently launched an initiative that requires companies to place an icon in or near behaviorally targeted ads. Clicking on the icons takes consumers to landing pages where they can learn more about behavioral targeting and also opt out.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has specifically criticized IE9's do-not-track feature as a "content-blocker" because it can theoretically prevent editorial companies as well as ad networks from displaying material on sites they don't own.

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