The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that it will convene a privacy workshop to explore the risks and benefits of online data collection

The Mobile Marketing Association on Monday named its 2012 global board executive committee, expanding the size of the body from five to eight members and adding executives from Facebook, Pandora and Velti. The new executive committee elected by the MMA global board is: Chair: Cameron Clayton, President, Digital, The Weather Channel Vice Chair: Paul Palmieri, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Millennial Media Secretary: Jack Philbin, Co-Founder, President & CEO, Vibes Media Member at Large: Alex Moukas, CEO, Velti Member at Large: Joe Kennedy, CEO & President, Pandora Member at Large: Carolyn Everson, VP Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook Chair Emeritus: …

Last month, Facebook rolled out Custom Audience ads, allowing marketers to retarget existing customers on the site through contact information such as email addresses and phone numbers. In one of the early campaigns using custom audience targeting on Facebook, a large travel client generated $25 in room-booking revenue for every $1 spent on advertising, according to Facebook ad specialist AdParlor. The firm said the travel company used its existing email database of people who had previously stayed at one of their hotels to target them on Facebook. “This is further proof that Facebook can innovate with their advertising products …

Mobile marketing firm Velti on Friday released new data showing most iPhone users have quickly upgraded to the new iOS 6 operating system but a hardcore group of holdouts remain. So far, 11% of users are sticking with iOS 4, with Velti speculating the much-publicized problems with Apple Maps could account for some resistance to iOS 6. The findings also suggest people are trying out favorite apps on the recently released iPhone 5. New iPhone 5 and iOS 6 users spent 27% of their time on social networking apps, followed by games (22%) and entertainment and utility apps (13% …

It looks like baseball fever swept the nation on Thursday. MLB.com said it set a new one-day record yesterday, with 280 million page views across all online and mobile platforms as fans tuned in to follow four potential elimination games in the baseball playoffs: New York/Baltimore; Detroit/Oakland; Washington/St. Louis; and San Francisco/Cincinnati. The page view total marked a 23% jump over the prior record set on Oct. 3, the last day of the baseball season, with the races for the American League East and West titles going right down to the wire. Usage reached a high between about 4 p.m. …

Talk about chutzpah: In a presentation to the Association of National Advertisers' Masters of Marketing, BP's CMO Luc Bardin explains how the company's involvement in the London 2012 Olympics has helped move its battered brand forward. "I'm a big believer in the adage, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,'" he told attendees. "And what we've learned is to ask ourselves, 'What can go wrong and are we ready?'" But it's worth noting that Bardin, who shared the stage with John Seifert, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America, its ad agency, was the only conference presenter who …

Sprint confirmed it is in talks with Japanese mobile carrier Softbank, in which the latter would make a "substantial investment" in the former, and that such a transaction "could involve a change of control of Sprint," according to a brief, two sentence statement.

American’s used 1.1 trillion MB of data in the year ending July 12, up more than double from the prior 12 months, according to the semi-annual data traffic survey by CTIA—The Wireless Association. Among other findings, the study showed smartphones made up 131 million (or 41%) of the almost 322 million wireless subscriber connections. The number of tablets increased to 22 million, or almost 17% of all wireless connections. At the same time, the trade organziation said the average monthly wireless bill decreased 7 cents to $47.16. For more highlights, click here.

 A ray of light for the CW?  "Arrow", a new CW drama -- one geared to pull in more male viewers -- took in a big Nielsen 4.02 million viewers on Wednesday. (So far this season, CW has been averaging just 900,000 viewers).   The network says this is the best result for any CW single episode in three years since  "The Vampire Diaries" took in 4.1 million in November …

About one in 10 people who watched the presidential debate last week were two-screen viewers, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Dual-screen viewers skewed younger, with 22% of those under 40 following the debate live both on TV and online via a computer or mobile device. Overall, 85% of viewers watched the debate on TV only. Looking at social media use, only about a third of those who viewed the debate in real time online—5% of the overall debate audience—say they shared their own reactions to the debate …