• by Wendy Davis , 3 hours ago

The major ad industry groups are asking California Governor Gavin Newsom to veto a bill that would require browser developers to offer a tool enabling consumers to easily opt out of online behavioral advertising throughout the web.

AB 566, passed earlier this month by state lawmakers, specifically would prohibit businesses from “developing or maintaining” a web browser that lacks an opt-out preference signal that sends opt-out requests to every site consumers visit.

The ad organizations are asking Newsom to veto the measure for several reasons. Among others, the groups say the bill would impose "a broad mandate without delivering meaningful consumer benefits."

"California consumers already have widespread access to opt-out preference signals via browsers, extensions, and other readily available technologies that they can enable at their discretion," the Association of National Advertisers, American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Advertising Federation and Digital Advertising Alliance say in a letter sent to Newsom last week.

"AB 566 is therefore unnecessary, as it seeks to mandate functionality that is already accessible to any Californian who wishes to exercise this choice," the groups add.

The best known opt-out preference signal is the Global Privacy Control -- a mechanism created by privacy advocates to enable consumers to communicate that they don't consent to the sharing of their online data for ad purposes.

Only some developers -- including Mozilla, Brave and DuckDuckGo -- have built the Global Privacy Control into their browsers. The tool is also available as a browser extension.

California law already gives consumers the right to opt out of online behavioral advertising, but the bill's proponents argue that a global opt-out command would make it easier for consumers to reject personalized advertising.

“It is far too difficult for most people to use their existing privacy rights,” Matt Schwartz, policy analyst at Consumer Reports, which supports the bill, stated after it was passed.

“AB 566 will change that by requiring browser vendors to provide a clear and easy-to-use setting that allows consumers to universally opt-out, preventing their information from being sold or shared with hundreds of third-parties that they have never even heard of," he added.

In the absence of an opt-out preference signal like Global Privacy Control, consumers who want to reject behaviorally targeted ads can click on web companies' opt-out links one-by-one, or can use a tool created an ad industry group. Those ad industry tool allows people to opt out of multiple companies that belong to industry organizations.

The ad industry also say the bill is inconsistent with California's privacy law, arguing that the text of the statute actually allows companies to either offer opt-out links on their sites or honor opt-out preference signals. Regulations by the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) require companies to honor opt-out preference signals, but the ad groups say those regulations are based on a misreading of the law.

"AB 566 would essentially enshrine into law the CPPA’s flawed interpretation of clear legislative text," the groups write.

Additionally, the ad groups argue that AB 566 doesn't "incorporate or reference" some requirements on the state's privacy law -- including that opt-out preference signals can't be set by default, and can't be implemented in a way that favors specific businesses or business models.

"Without these safeguards addressed, AB 566 risks harm to the economy of California, and the vibrant digital offerings subsidized by digital advertising," the groups write.

Newsom has until October 13 to either veto the measure or allow it to become law. Last year, he vetoed a similar but broader bill that would have required not only web browsers but also mobile operating systems to offer a setting enabling people to opt out of all online ad targeting. At the time, he expressed concerns about mandating tools for mobile operating systems.