• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, September 12, 2024

The ad industry's self-regulatory privacy group, Digital Advertising Alliance, on Thursday issued guidance for displaying the AdChoices icon to connected television viewers.

The new guidance for the icon comes more than one year after the group issued recommendations for applying the industry's 2009 privacy code to smart TVs, watches and other internet-connected devices.

That privacy code broadly requires online companies to notify consumers about ad targeting based on “nonsensitive” data collected across sites and apps, and to allow consumers to opt out of receiving those ads. The principles also require companies to obtain opt-in consent before harnessing certain types of "sensitive" data, such as precise geolocation information.

The earlier recommendations called for “first parties” -- meaning companies that consumers intentionally interact with -- to clearly notify consumers about data collection and allow them to opt out. 

The earlier guidance also encouraged “third parties” -- defined as companies that collect connected-device data -- to provide notice through a mechanism like the AdChoices icon, and allow consumers to opt out.

The creative guidance issued Thursday proposes a variety of formats for displaying the AdChoices icon, which was initially developed for websites, on streaming TV services. That icon, when clicked on from an online ad or an online publishers' page, takes users to sites with information about online ad targeting, including how to opt out.

Extending the icon to connected TV could prove difficult given the many parties involved in streaming video, and the fact that not all streaming ads will support a clickable icon.

The Digital Advertising Alliance acknowledges some of the obstacles, writing that applying the group's privacy framework to “legacy technology” may prove “challenging or impossible.”

The group adds that the new guidance aims “to reflect privacy notice concepts for new and emerging devices and services” in the connected television industry.

“The overarching goal is to make transparency and control options both accessible and manageable for consumers, including through the use of the AdChoices Icon and industry-wide choice mechanisms,” the group writes in its guidance.

One specific proposed format for streaming TV involves placing an AdChoices icon directly in the on-device settings; another potential format involves placing a clickable icon in a bar at the bottom of the screen.

The organization adds that the new guidance “has only a snapshot of possible ad unit types and framework recommendations for how AdChoices could be incorporated.”