Two companies respond to bureau inquiries on opt-out, disclosures
Train Kept A-Rollin'
The Better Business Bureau's Interest-Based Advertising Accountability Program reviews and enforces advertising in line with the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA's) self-regulatory privacy principles. (Most of us have encountered the work of the DAA through the AdChoices program, whose logo can be seen on various websites throughout the internet.)
A few weeks ago, we covered a milestone for the IBA – 100 public actions enforcing DAA rules and regs. And it's not letting up: The IBA just brought the "Almighty Word" of the DAA to two more ad-tech companies. Both investigations were inspired by consumer complaints.
Politicking
First in the docket: IQM, self-proclaimed "data-driven political marketer." Consumers complained that they encountered "errors" when they attempted to opt out of the company's interest-based advertising, including attempts to exit made through the DAA's WebChoices page and a lack of an opt-out tool on the IQM site.
After digging deeper, IBA found issues with IQM's privacy disclosures, unmet third-party obligations regarding cross-app and precise location data, and general cross-device compliance issues, among other problem areas.
The company addressed the complaint by updating its privacy disclosures to clarify the scope of its IBA practices, joining the WebChoices and AppChoices opt-out platforms, revising its contracts to require consumer consent before gathering location data, and several other measures.
The Takeaway
The second company, Kargo, is another ad-tech company, which boasts that it reaches "100% of smartphone users in the United States, a scale that eclipses Google and Facebook." Again, consumers complained that Kargo's opt-out tools failed to work; upon further review, the IBA found flaws in the company's privacy policy language as well.
In response to the inquiries, Kargo agreed to work to meet the DAA requirements.
Of special note for ad-tech compliance officers is a line from the Kargo inquiry: "Today's decision again outlines the role of third parties in promoting an online advertising ecosystem that respects consumer privacy," the IBA writes. "Third parties, as the masters of the technology that facilitates IBA, cannot neglect their duty to ensure that they provide functional opt-out mechanisms to consumers in both the desktop and mobile environment."
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