AOL welcomes the announcement of Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising by a broad coalition led by the IAB, DMA, AAAA, ANA, and BBB. We are pleased to have been involved in the process, and we believe these principles strike a sound balance to ensure the promise of the Internet and preserve consumer trust. AOL has long supported a self-regulatory approach to online behavioral advertising, and these principles constitute a yet another step forward in consumer education, awareness, and choice.
Consumer Education Page
Important Links
Online Behavioral Advertising Diagrams
Recent Posts
- Computers, Freedom and Privacy Tutorial on Online Advertising
- Future of Privacy Forum Research - Communicating with Users about Online Data Use
- The Network Advertising Initiative Announces New Executive Director
- FTC Staff Report: Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising
- Privacy and Social Networking
- Data Privacy Day 2009
- The NAI Announces 2008 NAI Self-Regulatory Principles
- Comprehensive Overview of Cookie Handling: Features and Flaws
- Privacy Laws and Business Conference
Consumer Awareness Campaign
SafetyClicks
July 2009
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June 01, 2009
Computers, Freedom and Privacy Tutorial on Online Advertising
On June 10, 2009, Doug Miller joined Jules Polonetsky of the Future of Privacy Forum in presenting a tutorial on Online Advertising at CFP '09. Here are the diagrams from our presentation.
May 19, 2009
April 09, 2009
The Network Advertising Initiative Announces New Executive Director
Congratulations to Chuck Curran, the NAI's new Executive Director and General Counsel.
February 12, 2009
FTC Staff Report: Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising
We appreciate the continuing leadership of the FTC and its Staff in the ongoing policy dialogue about online behavioral advertising. AOL has long supported efforts to implement a self-regulatory framework that delivers on the promise of relevant and customized advertising for consumers, and at the same time promotes enhanced trust in the marketplace.
We are committed to making online behavioral advertising more understandable to consumers through educational initiatives like our ‘Mr. Penguin’ campaign, and we support the evolution of a self-regulatory approach through our participation in industry groups such as the NAI and IAB.
January 28, 2009
Privacy and Social Networking
Privacy is of particular importance for teens on social networking sites where personal information tends to flow freely and could be accessed by people they don't really know.
Teens on social networking sites have tools available to them to help protect their information. Most social networking sites offer privacy settings that give users the ability to determine who can access their profile as well as various components thereof such as basic information, personal information, videos and photo albums.
On social networking sites, younger users are typically defaulted to "private", only viewable by friends, whereas adults are defaulted to "public", viewable by anyone. The default setting helps protect users who may not fully understand the risks of sharing information online with people they don't know. On some sites, users who are changing their default setting from "private" to "public" are presented with safety messaging alerting them to the risks of making their profile public. This messaging helps them to make an informed decision. In addition to privacy settings, most social networking sites also provide communication settings. Communication settings let users determine who can send them messages or post comments on their site.
Even if your teen has their profile marked as "private", meaning that it is accessible only to friends, keep in mind that their personal information may still be at risk as friends on social networking sites do not always equate to friends in the real world. Social networking has brought about a concept known as 'friending' which describes the act of making friends online by sending requests to other members on the site. Teens typically start with sending requests to their own friends and then their friends' friends. Through 'friending' teens can have an ever expanding list of friends, but most of these friends are simply acquaintances and sometimes not even that.
As soon as your teen 'friends' someone, that person has access to your teen's profile. Information that would be appropriate to share with a true friend such as pictures, party invites and school happenings should not be shared with acquaintances, or someone they know very little about. There is always a chance that the information could be used in an abusive manner such as sharing without permission, altering photos, cyberbullying, and even stalking.
If your teen is on a social network, talk to them about who is on their friends list and the risks posed by sharing too much information with people they really don't know. Make certain that they are aware of and utilize the site's privacy and communication settings to help protect their information and create a positive and safer experience.
For more information on online safety and privacy, visit SafetyClicks.com.
Data Privacy Day 2009
Wednesday, January 28, is Data Privacy Day 2009, a day created by the Council of Europe in 2007 to raise awareness about the importance of data privacy. And we are doing exactly that at AOL.
At our offices across the nation and around the world, we’re reminding employees of their responsibility – as individuals, parents, and employees – to protect privacy online:
Protect yourself from identity theft by shredding documents, being careful with your passwords, regularly using anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and checking your credit report.
Protect your kids and teens from online privacy risks by being aware of what they’re doing online, and teaching them to be careful about giving out information to people they don’t know about themselves and your family. Visit www.safetyclicks.com to learn more.
Protect consumers by knowing the relevant privacy policies and best practices, knowing internal policies for data collection and use, and looking for new ways for consumers to find out how their data is used and what choices or privacy controls are available to them. Good privacy practices are central to preserving our trusted relationship with consumers.
December 16, 2008
The NAI Announces 2008 NAI Self-Regulatory Principles
The Network Advertising Initiative, the leading US self-regulatory
organization for companies in the online advertising marketplace, has
announced the 2008 update of its Self-Regulatory Code of Conduct, a set
of binding Principles that has governed members since 2001. Consistent
with AOL's commitment to transparency and consumer education,
Advertising.com and TACODA as well as other members of the NAI have
worked closely over the last year to revise these principles .
To read the press release and find additional information, please visit
http://networkadvertising.org.
September 15, 2008
Comprehensive Overview of Cookie Handling: Features and Flaws
Security guru Steve Gibson provides a wealth of security, privacy and technical information at his site, www.grc.com. I have just come across a comprehensive review of browser cookie handling that he has posted there- I thought I aleady had a pretty good handle on this, but as always, Steve's insight flags issues that others miss.
September 11, 2008
Privacy Laws and Business Conference
A wide range of videos from the International Privacy Laws and Business Conference are now available. Check out former CPO, Jules Polonetsky's presentation about Mr. Penguin, as well as some good discussions of the definition of personal information and other issues in EU Data Protection Law.
Privacy Resources
The Daily Netizen has compiled "The Ultimate Guide to Internet Privacy" a quite useful set of links to a wide range of privacy resources. Missing, unfortunately, is one of our favorite sites for global privacy news and analysis, Outlaw.com, perhaps because that site by UK based law firm Pinsent Masons covers a wider range of issues than just data protection. Tip of the hat to privacy expert and blogger Michael Zimmer who flagged the guide to his FaceBook friends (and of course his site is also worth following.) Yes, many of us privacy professionals are on Facebook (and Bebo). We need to understand how this stuff works! And it is a great way to connect and share info with a range of experts and colleagues around the world. That's our excuse for why we are spending so much time on those sites.
