• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, April 13, 2016

Location-based data firm PlaceIQ announced today that the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), a self-regulatory industry association formed around responsible data collection in digital advertising, has accepted it into membership.

This is the first time that a mobile location company has joined the group.

The NAI is made up of third-party digital advertising companies that audit various companies’ practices and technologies, as well as advocate for self-regulation in the industry. Many analysts have likened mobile data collection as the “Wild West,” in reference to the lawless or careless attitudes many publishers and data providers take when they alter data, to make more money.

Consumers cite privacy concerns among their most major hangups with regards to the collection of mobile data, especially location data.

“The mobile advertising industry has devoted a lot of time, energy and focus into consumer privacy,”  PlaceIQ Duncan McCall told Mobile Marketing Daily.

“In contrast to an industry like digital display, much of the data collected for mobile advertising is opted-in. Like any industry, we’ll continue to see new policies emerge that safeguard consumer privacy,” he added.

Europe’s data privacy model, while draconian by U.S. standards, may be the direction many countries start to move.

“In Europe, there are some very clear cut rules applied for digital display, but it is unclear how those rules apply to mobile and other emerging technologies. Legislating around newer technologies and use of data is extremely difficult, which makes it logical to communicate the guidelines set forth by organizations like NAI to a global arena,” says McCall.