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FCC Places Consumer Privacy at Greater Risk as it Seeks to Overturn Safeguards
Giant ISPs, such as Verizon, expand tracking & profiling of public
Today in the over-the-top (OTT) world, broadcasters and OTT service providers have few insights into what their viewers’ consumption habits are. Insights are key to making real-time decisions and personalizing a viewer’s experience, from content to ads and more. Imagine knowing your viewers’ preferences better than they do, anticipating their viewing interests at any given time and seamlessly providing content that intrigues and engages them. This is the future of streaming, and it’s possible thanks to Smartplay by Verizon, our 1 to 1 session management platform technology (link is external). Smartplay enables direct communication between you and your viewers. This connection captures how and what your viewers watch, and allows you to dynamically offer personalized content and targeted ad experiences (link is external) to every viewer on every screen. No one else in the industry offers this technology (link is external), but more importantly all the capabilities Smartplay enables you with: Smarter delivery Smarter insights Smarter advertising Smarter programming Smarter discovery Smarter protection So, how does Smartplay work? Smartplay begins right after the viewer presses play. It’s the pulse between the viewer and you, the broadcaster. It provides you with the knowledge of every viewer’s connected device and network conditions so that you can make real-time decisions to ensure a TV-like quality of experience (link is external) (QoE) for every viewer. Smartplay leverages insights about every viewer, their viewing habits and preferences, that allows you to understand every viewer on an individual level and how to maximize engagement and revenues. With Smartplay, it doesn’t matter whether you have hundreds or millions of viewers watching. You can treat them all individually and tailor the TV guide, effortlessly accommodating geographic restrictions and programming blackouts to select highly targeted advertisements. Now you can develop complete personas for each viewer to boost viewer engagement and the value of your ad spots. Smartplay enables you to finally answer questions like: How can I know what programming to invest in? How many ads do I place in a program? How do I best monetize my program catalog by selling to the highest ad bidder? And, you’ll be able to use Smartplay to offer viewers the supreme video streaming experience: their own personalized TV channel anytime, anywhere. By choosing Verizon Digital Media Services as your video streaming partner, you get to work with the smartest video platform and network that enables you to get intimate with your viewers so you can drive up your business. --- Watch this video to learn more about how Smartplay can help run a smarter video business: http://bit.ly/2mlwtR3 (link is external) -
Consumer, Privacy and Children’s Advocates Oppose Attempts by Industry to Eliminate Privacy Protections of all ISP Customers, Including Children
Groups Call on the FCC to Implement the Historic Privacy Order Enacted Last Fall
Washington, DC (March 6, 2017): The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Common Sense Kids Action, Consumer Action and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject industry requests to rescind the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, as this would leave parents effectively without any tools to protect their children’s privacy on broadband Internet Service Provider networks (ISPs). The groups warned that any attempts to modify the privacy rule would significantly weaken the privacy protections for children. The filing to the FCC was drafted by the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center (IPR). In October 2016, the Federal Communications Commission adopted ground-breaking privacy rules protecting the personal information of broadband internet service customers, including children. The FCC rules set limits on what internet service providers may do with the highly sensitive data that they collect in the course of providing internet service. These rules were intended to give consumers and parents the tools they need to make informed decisions about how their information, or the information of their children, is used by their ISP. Most significantly, the rules require ISPs to obtain opt-in approval for use and sharing of sensitive customer personal information for purposes other than providing broadband service. “Sensitive” information includes precise geo-location, financial information, health information, children’s information, social security numbers, web browsing history, app usage history and the content of communications. In their filing, the advocates oppose petitions filed by ISPs, including Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner, that ask the FCC to reconsider its broadband privacy Order. The advocates explain in their filing with the FCC: Treating children’s information as sensitive and requiring notice and opt-in consent is necessary to protect children and is consistent with the FTC’s practices. This aspect of the rules is necessary, although not sufficient to protect children’s privacy. All web browsing and application usage histories must be treated as sensitive information because children's information is mixed with that of adults. In order to protect children from targeted advertising, all users' browsing and application histories must receive protection as such histories reveal traits, characteristics, likes, and dislikes. Marketers, who are intensely interested in targeting children and adolescents, would have a much greater ability to take unfair advantage of children, without these rules in place. The FCC should retain opt-in requirements for use of all categories of sensitive information, such as for web browsing and application usage histories. Since this data is inextricably intertwined with adult activities, any required additional sorting of this data into sensitive and non-sensitive data would inevitably lead to further erosion of privacy of all ISP users. Most Americans are oblivious to modern day big data practices and to the resulting potential risks to themselves or society at large. When it comes to vulnerable children it must be the obligation of ISPs to make a convincing case to parents that opting into the ISP’s data practices is in the best interest of their children. The following can be attributed to Katharina Kopp, Deputy Director, Center for Digital Democracy: The FCC Privacy Rules protect the fundamental rights of children to enjoy privacy and freedom from age-inappropriate commercial exploitation. Any attempts to weaken these rules is an attempt to leave parents and their children defenseless against powerful corporate interests. Digital food marketing of unhealthy foods to children and teens, for example, has contributed to an obesity epidemic that harms us all. This is unfair, unjust and not in the public interest. We call on the FCC to implement the Privacy Order in its entirety without any delay. The following can be attributed to Josh Golin, Executive Director, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood This is a crucial test for the FCC. Will the Commission insist that parents have a right to protect their children’s privacy online? Or will the FCC aid and abet the ISP’s efforts to build digital marketing profiles of vulnerable children? We call on the Commission to do the right thing and implement the Privacy Order. The following statement can be attributed to Linda Sherry, Director of National Priorities, Consumer Action: Consumer Action opposes efforts to rescind the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, which would jeopardize the privacy of all internet service customers and strip them of the right to assert control over their sensitive information including geo-location, financial, health, etc. We join the Center for Digital Democracy in highlighting the potential harm to children, a highly vulnerable and defenseless population that has gained important new rights under the rule, which specifically recognizes the sensitivity of children’s information. The Center for Digital Democracy is a leading nonprofit organization focused on empowering and protecting the rights of the public in the digital era. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood support parents’ efforts to raise healthy families by limiting commercial access to children. Consumer Action empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers nationwide to prosper through education and advocacy. EPIC is a public interest research center in Washington, DC, established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age. -
The Center of Digital Democracy joins 28 other media and social justice, consumer protection, civil liberties and privacy groups, asking the FCC to implement its broadband privacy rules and to reject industry calls to repeal the Order.
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Blog
Comcast Expands Use of Big Data to Track What You Do
ISPs plan to expand digital data surveillance on consumers reason why they oppose new FCC privacy safeguards
Making a key big data move, Comcast has quietly scooped up a small video metadata specialist to delve deeper into the programming that it delivers, improving the viewing experience for subscribers while opening up possible new advertising revenue opportunities for the giant US MSO. As reported first by Multichannel News (link is external) and later confirmed by Comcast, Comcast Corp. (link is external) (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) bought the ten-year-old metadata firm, Watchwith, late last year. Terms of the deal, which closed last month, were not disclosed. But a Comcast spokesman did say that Watchwith will be folded into its growing Comcast Metadata Products & Social Services (COMPASS) division and that all of its staffers will be staying on. Based in San Francisco, Watchwith is a 15-employee firm that specializes in tracking video information on a scene-by-scene basis. Its technology enables producers and editors to tag their video programs manually to gather "frame-level" data on those programs. The Watchwith system also offers media-analysis technology that enables content and service providers to tag programs automatically using computer vision and machine learning methods. Comcast has already relied on Watchwith technology to add new features to its X1 IP video platform. For one thing, the cable operator uses the firm's metadata in XI's "auto-extend" feature, which automatically extends the length of DVR recordings, especially sports events, that run longer than the original scheduled air time. Watchwith technology also powers a new sports highlights feature on X1 that automatically creates metadata tags so that viewers can skip directly to key plays in a sporting event recorded on their DVRs. Thanks to such capabilities, Watchwith offers some promising new ad possibilities for both service and content providers. Last year the company introduced an in-program "contextual" ad platform for IP-capable set-tops like Comcast's X1, as well as smart TVs and mobile devices. That platform allows programmers to offer interactive ad avails within shows at pre-set cue points, going beyond the more disruptive pre-roll and interstitial ad spots that are now available. It also bought Arris's Media Analysis Framework (MAF), a cloud-based machine learning and automated metadata-generation platform that ties into Watchwith’s own digital advertising platform. (See Arris Ends Dream of Set-Top Software Riches (link is external).) — Author Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader --- For the full article, visit http://ubm.io/2lJDTjW (link is external) -
Blog
Safeguards needed for Big Data targeting in political campaigns
Data-Driven micro targeting shaping how we decide issues and elected officials
Resonate’s HI-RES Intelligence-to-Activation platform enhances your understanding of your audience with unique insights about their motivations, values, media consumption habits and behaviors–to illuminate why they make the decisions they make–or don’t make. Then Resonate puts your message in front of them – wherever they are online. Statistics: 58% of consumers are more likely to be influenced by their friends and family 47% of consumers are less likely to think immigration strains the US economy 41% of consumers are more likely to believe that the country is on the wrong track Resonate's solution helps you engage voters based on issue and policy positions, candidate platforms and personal values that impact their voting decisions. Leveraging these motivations – the reasons why people act – yields substantially better results than traditional demographic, behavioral, contextual and voter file targeting methods. Political and advocacy campaigns no longer need to rely solely on demographic and behavioral targeting to reach the right audience. Resonate layers motivations and values onto traditional audience building. Campaigns engage with audiences based on a combination of over 7,000 attributes. From education to GOTV, Resonate engages supporters and persuadable voters based on the specific issues that matter to them. They target, deliver, and optimize your ads based on our ground-breaking methodology. Resonate provides comprehensive measurement and reporting on both traditional web metrics (including click through rates or video completion rates) and effectiveness metrics such as lift in favorability or intent to vote. Connect with the right audiences during every phase of your campaign 1: Educate: Resonate helps campaigns of all types amplify its presence. From candidate name recognition to ballot initiatives, your message will be seen. 2: Persuade: Only Resonate can help you reach persuadables based on the issues they care about most. Whether you need to get your message in front of people who have not yet formed their opinion or reinforce your stance with supporters, you can be sure your ad dollars are being spent wisely. 3: Mobilize: Ultimately, winning any campaign is decided by the actions of your supporters. From traditional GOTV to signing petitions and attending rallies, Resonate connects you with the audience most likely to act. --- View Resonate's case studies by visiting http://bit.ly/2lAzMqr (link is external) -
Blog
Digital Safeguards Needed for Global Youth as Toy Companies Join Forces with Online Data Marketers
Mattel, Inc., the leading global childhood play and development company, today announced a new strategic partnership with Alibaba Group, the world's largest online and mobile commerce company. Leveraging Mattel's iconic brands and expertise in play as well as Alibaba's wealth of data and insights into the Chinese consumer base, the expanded partnership aims to re-shape the way parents in China think about play. Alibaba Group's unrivaled scale and data-driven approach to consumer insights will enable Mattel to tailor their market and product strategy. With more than 440 million active buyers across its e-commerce platforms, Alibaba is helping Mattel meet the ever-growing and changing needs of Chinese consumers with a strategic omni-channel approach spanning online-to-offline (O2O). As part of this expanded collaboration, Mattel will not only be marketing and selling to China via Alibaba's B2C marketplace Tmall.com (link is external), but also leveraging the company's media ecosystem to develop and promote learning resources and educational content – inspired by Mattel's beloved brands and characters – to help parents and families get the most out of play. Additionally, Mattel will be working with Alibaba's A.I. Lab to develop new and innovative products, designed to aid child development through the use of cutting-edge technology and smart, interactive learning. "Play has a tremendous impact on a child's cognitive, social and emotional growth," said Margo Georgiadis, CEO of Mattel. "By combining Mattel's unmatched expertise in childhood learning and development, with Alibaba's immense reach and unique consumer insights, our goal is to help parents in China raise children to be their personal best." "Alibaba empowers leading global brands to digitally transform their businesses and address the fast-changing Chinese consumer landscape," said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. "We look forward to supporting Mattel's growth through our robust data and commerce technology infrastructure, which will help to elevate their overall business from product development to brand-building to rural penetration for this unique and massive market." Ms. Georgiadis added, "The multi-billion dollar toy category in China is highly fragmented, with tremendous potential for growth. Working with Alibaba, we see a terrific opportunity to develop and lead the category." Mattel and Alibaba will begin product development immediately, with initial availability planned for mid-2017. --- For the full article visit http://bit.ly/2lbJDAI (link is external) -
Blog
The FCC and Congress Must Preserve the Privacy Rights of Broadband Internet Customers!
Written by Katharina Kopp
After a long and fair rulemaking process during most of 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted ground-breaking privacy rules (link is external) last October protecting the personal information of broadband Internet service customers. Both industry—including powerful phone and cable companies that provide the majority of broadband connections—as well as consumer, civil rights, and privacy groups, had ample opportunity to make their case—which they did. Public-interest and grass-roots organizations used their limited resources to advocate for consumers’ basic right to access and use the Internet (via Internet service providers—ISPs) in private, without having their information gathered. Industry and its allies tried to oppose or water down attempts to give their customers meaningful privacy protections. Despite a significant power imbalance between the parties, the process resulted in rules that give consumers and citizens legal rights that many assumed are already theirs to enjoy, but which they, in fact, had been denied until this historic broadband privacy rule making. Prior to the Privacy Order, it was not since the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act that U.S. regulators affirmatively granted consumers meaningful online privacy rights on this scale. While the Federal Trade Commission has played an important role as the lead agency in protecting the privacy and data-security rights of U.S. consumers for a large section of the U.S. economy, it has not enacted any policy that that would restore the power imbalance between consumers and large corporations in our ever-growing commercial surveillance world. The FCC broadband privacy rule, however, aims to provide the public with some fairness and balance to the lopsided relationship between the average individual and data-insatiable powerful ISPs. The FCC rules set limits on what Internet service providers may do with the highly sensitive data that they have already collected in the course of providing internet service (a service for which consumers already pay dearly with their pocket books). “Sensitive” information includes precise geo-location, financial information, health information, children’s information, social security numbers, web browsing history, app usage history and the content of communications. The most important aspect of the rule requires Internet service providers to obtain an opt-in consent for the use or sharing of such information for purposes other than providing broadband service, such as billing. What this means is that unless you ask me and I give permission, what I do on the Internet is off-limits for ISPs to monetize. The final rule emphasized the distinction between sensitive and non-sensitive data. The FCC felt it had to accommodate industry pressure to follow the FTC’s framework, which is based on that agency’s very limited authority to protect consumer privacy. Advocates and the FCC recognized that the distinction between sensitive and non-sensitive information is less and less meaningful in an age when companies can use data analytics and modeling to infer the most personal traits of an individual without ever collecting “sensitive data.” What is particularly noteworthy is that the new FCC rule grappled with the concepts of what kinds of uses and sharing are permissible and which are not. The rule, in fact, makes it clear that it is precisely the unexpected and unrelated or secondary uses of data that a company must first obtain permission to use before it can do so. In other words, each of us has a right to control the collection, use, and exploitation of data about us. This important and basic human right was finally made into a legal right with the 2016 FCC Privacy Order. It should stay that way, even with a new leadership at the Commission. The benefits that accrue to each of us individually and as members of a group, as well as to society at large, from this new policy safeguard, are manifold and invaluable to an equitable, just, and fair democracy and marketplace. Without an opt-in, there would be no limitations placed on how ISPs can use the data about us. As we all know too well, the existing individual privacy self-management model in the U.S., which typically offers only an opt-out, has proven to be ineffective in putting limits on corporate data uses and sharing, although the public expresses an increasing opposition to these corporate surveillance practices. Not only do the FCC privacy rules affirm the basic individual right to have one’s privacy protected and individual autonomy preserved, the requirement to obtain an affirmative consent prior to any secondary uses by ISPs is equally critical in guarding against profiling and group discrimination. The profiling of an individual, or the association of an individual with a class of people, requires very little information about the person who is being profiled. So, the less data collected about others like me, the less likely that I will be profiled. While not perfect, and just a small safeguard in this world of ubiquitous and constant data surveillance, this rule helps to guard us against the classifying and predictive analytics that often represent a biased, discriminatory, and entrenched inequality that incorporate past inequities into decisions about the future. Given that the rule identifies information about children as sensitive data, it is also important in protecting the fundamental rights of children to enjoy privacy and freedom from age-inappropriate commercial exploitation. The use of data about us as consumers and citizens during the 2016 elections, moreover, should serve as an important reminder of how pervasive technologies of data surveillance analytics have become. Political campaigns and special interests have unfettered access to commercial data and marketing practices designed to influence how we think, act, and vote, but there are no regulations or corporate practices that aim to curtail these developments’—unless, that is, we hold onto the FCC broadband privacy rule now and build on it in the future. Given the ominous start of Ajit Pai to his FCC chairmanship—he has already used his “delegated authority” to undermine important communications rights—we are now facing the very real likelihood that the new chairman will do away with the rule that was adopted by the previous FCC Commission. (CDD recently filed an Opposition to Petitions for a Stay of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Privacy Order in response to a filing by a coalition of industry associations and interests.) Similarly, there is a real risk that Congress might repeal the rule via the Congressional Review Act, which would prevent the FCC from revisiting broadband privacy rules at all in the future. But Americans want to have control over their lives and data, and want to be able to make decisions unencumbered by powerful corporate interests. Thus the FCC and Congress must preserve the privacy rights of broadband internet customers! --- Written by Katharina Kopp, Deputy Director, Director of Policy for Center for Digital Democracy -
Blog
These digital coupons may give you a discount, but track and target you
Press Release "Quotient Launches Quotient Media Exchange, Enhancing Data-Driven Capabilities" by PR Newswire
Quotient Technology Inc (link is external), a leading digital promotions and media company connecting brands, retailers, and shoppers, today announced the launch of the Quotient Media Exchange (QMX), a data-driven solution where advertisers can leverage Quotient's reach and exclusive data to serve targeted media across the web and mobile. QMX incorporates purchase data from retailers across the Quotient Retailer iQ (link is external) network, allowing the company to reach a national audience or a single retailer's customers. QMX combines in-store transaction data with online engagement and purchase-intent data from Quotient's flagship brand, Coupons.com (link is external), and the company's thousands of publishing partners. Quotient's forward-looking proprietary data allows Quotient to make intelligent predictions about what shoppers are planning to buy, and when they are planning to shop. Through QMX, advertisers can run digital media campaigns targeted at consumer segments based on category purchase, brand or store affinity, geolocations, or other custom criteria that serve brand objectives. As of today, QMX has a potential audience reach of about 55 million in the U.S. "We're excited to bring an efficient and powerful media solution to the market," said Mir Aamir, President and COO at Quotient. "Now that we have broad retailer reach and scale, QMX is the next logical step as we seek to serve our CPG partners and other advertisers looking for better ways to target consumer segments with effective digital advertising." QMX enables advertisers to serve data-driven media on leading publishers, including social media properties such as Facebook, Quotient's many retailer partner sites, as well as Quotient's vast network of web and mobile properties, including Coupons.com (link is external). Additionally, QMX can integrate media with digital coupons through Quotient's Retailer iQ platform, offering brands a unique ability to combine targeted brand equity messaging with effective consumer conversion to drive sales. In addition to targeted media, QMX enables brands to measure the effectiveness of digital advertising campaigns to drive sales, based on the real-time shopper transaction data from Quotient's retailer partners...We distribute digital coupons and media through a variety of products, including digital printable coupons, digital paperless coupons, coupon codes and card linked offers. We operate Quotient Retailer iQ™, a real-time digital coupon platform that connects into a retailer's point-of-sale system and provides targeting and analytics for manufacturers and retailers. Our distribution network includes our flagship site and app, Coupons.com (link is external), as well as Grocery iQ™, Shopmium™, and our thousands of publisher partners. We serve hundreds of consumer packaged goods companies, such as Clorox, Procter & Gamble, General Mills and Kellogg's, as well as top retailers like Albertsons-Safeway, CVS, Dollar General, Kroger, and Walgreens. --- For the full article, please visit http://prn.to/2lCRpGV (link is external) -
Blog
Growing Threats to Consumer Privacy via Connected TVs
Expansion of tracking a person on all devices shows why FCC safeguards are needed.
With the addition addressable TV to the Drawbridge Cross-Device Platform, brands now have the ability to seamlessly reach their audiences across desktop, mobile, connected TV, and now programmatic TV inventory sources, ensuring that both traditional cable subscribers and cord-cutters are exposed to your brand's message on all of their devices. If you're looking to reach TV viewers – not programs – contact us today to learn more. The New TV Landscape Reach Both Types of TV Audiences TV Audience Retargeting Amplify consumers’ TV engagement by reaching them before or after they have received a message via programmatic or connected TV. --- For more informaiton about Drawbrige Resources visit, https://drawbridge.com/c/tv_resources (link is external) -
Blog
With Departure of Consumer Bureau Director Jessica Rich, Future of FTC’s Commitment to Protect the Public Now Uncertain
Agency Must Demonstrate it will Tackle Growing Privacy and Consumer Threats in the Big Data Era
Statement of Jeff Chester, Executive Director Center for Digital Democracy February 7, 2017 For more than a quarter-century, Jessica Rich has played a critical leadership role at the Federal Trade Commission. She has made major contributions to the commission’s work on privacy and consumer protection—from leading the development of the rules for the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), to conducting a series of recent enforcement actions to curb deceptive and unfair digital marketing practices that harm consumers’ credit and financial well-being. Rich has been particularly instrumental in holding corporate special interests accountable by bringing cases against Volkswagen, Western Union, Herbalife, Google, Amazon, Apple, and other companies. Rich’s departure raises serious concerns about the future of the FTC under the Trump administration. We fear that the agency will retreat from its central consumer-protection mission, by weakening the standards for regulatory safeguards, failing to address new cases brought to the agency, and ignoring the growing arsenal of disturbing Big Data practices that pose far-reaching threats to the public’s privacy, health, and security. At this critical moment, the agency must demonstrate courage and independence, standing up for consumer rights, and resisting any efforts to force a retreat from its public interest mandate. -
Blog
The EU Must Ensure Data Protection & Digital Marketing Safeguards for both Children & Adolescents (and that includes you too, UK!)
This blog entry by Jeff Chester originally appeared on the Media Policy Blog of the London School of Economics and Political Science here. Influencers (link is external), native advertising (link is external), programmatic targeting (link is external), predictive algorithms (link is external), cross-device identification (link is external), immersive advertising (link is external), hyper-geolocation tracking (link is external), Big Data—all of these terms are part of the lexicon that is at the foundation of our digital lives. Led by Google and Facebook, but embedded deeply throughout the EU and the rest of the world, is a pervasive and far-reaching commercial surveillance complex. The potent and purposeful combination of contemporary consumer data gathering and analytic practices (link is external)—so called “Big Data”—with an ever-growing array of digital marketing practices, has been deployed globally to monitor, analyze, and influence our behaviors. The very digital devices and services we rely on—and which marketers openly claim we are often “addicted” (link is external) to—have been expressly designed to facilitate continuous data collection on all “screens (link is external),” including desktop computers (link is external), mobile (link is external) devices and (now) television (link is external). Information on and about our online and offline lives is fed into supercomputers, (link is external) where it becomes a potent mix of insights and other “actionable” details as our profiles are enhanced with a plethora of added details readily obtained from giant (link is external) one-stop-shopping “marketing data clouds (link is external).” The data collected on individuals (link is external) today include a far-reaching array of information (link is external) on how much money we make; what our health concerns are; what our race or ethnicity (link is external) is; how we spend our time (link is external) online and offline and what we do there; and much more. In milliseconds, decisions are made about our lives. Should we get an ad or offer for a credit card or payday loan? Do we likely have cancer or some other serious illness and are looking for treatments? What video game, film, sporting event ad or editorial content should we receive—whether “fake” (link is external) or from legitimate news sources? The data-driven digital marketing system is now also a major way citizens determine the fate of their nation, such as the vote on “Brexit (link is external)” and the U.S. presidential thumbs to buy, as Facebook puts it—is just one goal. So is using all the clout the digital giants and their allies can muster to get individuals and groups to embrace brands and products as part of their identity. Marketers are increasingly deploying new ways to influence our actions and emotions, including through artificial intelligence (link is external), virtual (link is external) reality, 3D video (link is external), cognitive computing (such as IBM’s Watson (link is external)), and the expanded use of neuromarketing. (link is external) The largely unchecked role that data-driven digital marketing plays in the lives of adults is troubling enough. But we should all be concerned about its impact (link is external) on young people. From undermining their privacy, to encouraging them to buy junk food, “pester” their parents to spend money, promote (link is external) products and brands to their friends by serving as influencers, or stealthily honing (link is external) their identity and social development to promote life-long brand loyalty, marketers and media companies are playing an important role shaping this and future generations of young people. One has only to see how digital marketing is being used by fast food (link is external) companies to peddle (link is external) junk food around the world—despite the youth obesity epidemic—to witness how these forces can undermine a person’s health and potential. Market researchers are constantly studying (link is external) how best to use the Internet, mobile devices, and social media to ensure ads and brand messages play an important—and unavoidable—role in children’s lives. While digital media offer children and adolescents important ways to learn, play, and communicate, they have also unleashed forces that require scrutiny, corporate responsibility, and regulation. One critical safeguard that both children and teens require is to have their privacy rights (link is external) respected. The European Union has a historic opportunity to implement its new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR (link is external)) to ensure that there are meaningful controls for data gathered on youth. (The new law comes into force in May 2018.) Throughout the EU, companies (link is external) are using mobile phones, apps, social media, music streaming channels, YouTube, and more to entice “digital natives” to turn over their information. Data is the new “gold” and in the case of young people, worth some $1.2 trillion yearly in buying and influencing power. But different rules are required for young children versus adolescents. Affirmative consent from a parent or caregiver before data collection can occur from a child is one important safeguard. That’s because the business model of the digital industry significantly depends on a person not being able to effectively “opt-out” of the data profiling process. The default is collection. Google and other digital ad firms make their vast revenues ($178 billion and growing) (link is external) by being able to seamlessly gather our information without having to first ask, or being required to candidly explain what they do. (To see a glimpse of how Google or Facebook really work to help advertisers, see here (link is external) and here (link is external).) By first requiring truly informed consent, the process established by commercial sites (such as “read our privacy policy” if you can find or understand it (link is external)) breaks. As one of the two people (along with Prof. Kathryn Montgomery (link is external)) who led the campaign that resulted in the enactment of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (link is external) in 1998, I know that in the U.S. the range and nature of digital marketing and data practices that occur once someone turns 13 (and is no longer covered by COPPA’s parental consent requirement) is starkly different than online marketing directed at children. You just don’t see on sites targeting children what you unfortunately discover nearly everywhere else. Although geolocation and other increasingly used tracking data), it’s not enough. The marketing practices designed to elicit the data from children and encourage parents to say “yes” also require public policies. In addition, adolescents require a different approach. While well meaning, the new provision in the GDPR raising the age for required parental consent from 13 to 16 is not the best way (link is external) to address the problem. It’s true that teens are a key target (link is external) for digital marketers in the EU and globally, both for their data and from the marketing opportunities that result. But young people should be able to participate effectively in the digital culture without having to ask permission first. The answer, I believe, is not merely encouraging Member States to vote to roll back the GDPR provision so they can set the age of consent back to 13 (link is external). What’s required is the development of rules that empower teens (link is external) to make their own decisions regarding data collection—in which they have the right to “opt-in” after being told how their data will actually be used. (Such disclosure, if honestly made, would serve as a cautionary tale for many young people, I believe.) The EU and Member States also need to craft an enforceable set of Fair Marketing Practices for the Digital Era that protects children and teens and ensures their rights (link is external) are respected (and which would be useful for the rest of us as well!). As we all know, the online marketplace targeting young people is booming, (link is external) with companies such as Google specifically creating sites (e.g., YouTube Kids (link is external)) where even the youngest (such as five and under) are encouraged to spend time. Growing investment in efforts (link is external) to lure children into digital environments, through games, video, and social media, along with ongoing technological innovation (such as immersive AI environments), will foster an even more ubiquitous and effective online marketing environment. Given their historic commitments to data protection, human rights, and the rights of minors (link is external), the EU and Member States should play a leadership role ensuring that the commercial marketplace engages young people in ways that truly respect their privacy and enhance their well-being. -
January 27, 2017 - The Center for Digital Democracy and 18 media justice, consumer protection, civil liberties, and privacy groups strongly urge congressional leaders to oppose the use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to adopt a Resolution of Disapproval overturning the FCC’s broadband privacy rules.---Click the link below for the full PDF of the letter.
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This is a case study of Facebook's work for Judicial Watch illustrating how the media, digital advertising & social networking company uses micro-targeting and tracking for political causes. --- Established in 1994, Judicial Watch (link is external) is a conservative non-partisan government watchdog organization that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and law. It has filed lawsuits against the last several US presidential administrations. The organization wanted to reach its current supporters, educate them about the work it is currently involved in and encourage them to donate both online and offline. "With advanced matching for Custom Audiences, we can now reach donors who were previously invisible to us on Facebook for a fraction of the cost of other channels. We now have the ability to reach our audience with simultaneous online and offline messaging, which increases lift and our return on ad spend." -John Britten, Digital Director, Judicial Watch Judicial Watch wanted to determine if serving its supporters Facebook ads would make them more likely to donate. The organization used advanced matching for Custom Audiences to find and reach its supporters on Facebook, and encourage them to donate. Advanced matching for Custom Audiences is a targeting tool that allows advertisers to upload multiple data points at once to create an audience on Facebook. Data points include general information like first and last name, zip code, state, country, age and gender, and also email, phone number, mobile advertiser ID and Facebook app user ID. The organization then ran Canvas (link is external) and link ads (link is external) to educate supporters on the work it is doing on the Hillary Clinton email controversy. The interactive ads highlighted the results Judicial Watch has already achieved—including 20 active lawsuits and more than 180 Freedom of Information requests—and encouraged viewers to donate to the organization. Next, Judicial Watch used the conversion lift tool to segment its target audience of supporters into a test and control group. It then used offline events manager, a new tool that allows offline tracking on multiple data points, to evaluate how the ads influenced offline donations via the organization’s direct mail program. Using both tools, Judicial Watch accurately measured the impact of the ads on online and offline donations. Using a variety of Facebook’s advanced advertising tools, Judicial Watch reached and engaged with hundreds of thousands of supporters on Facebook and measured the impact in a statistically significant manner. Its campaign achieved: 40-point increase in in match rate using advanced matching 393,409 supporters reached on mobile 72% of those reached were age 45 and up (a key demographic) Statistically significant increase in offline and online donations among males and those age 65 and up 82% of Canvas viewed on average --- For more information on this case study, visit https://www.facebook.com/business/success/judicial-watch (link is external)
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Blog
Google and Facebook Must Adopt Responsible Practices Regarding Role in Political Campaigns
Ensuring truthful and transparent messages in the Political Microtargeting & Computational Propaganda Era
What can marketers learn from the latest data about voter behavior online? Voters make decisions before they're in the booth—by going online. To understand the influence of digital media and online video in the 2016 elections, Google partnered with two leading political consultants to survey primary voters. Here, they discuss what the results mean for marketers. This election cycle, people are increasingly going online before going to the polls. In the first two months of the year, the average registered voter gearing up for Super Tuesday researched the primary election online 85 times. And in just the last year, people have watched over 110M hours of candidate- and issues-related video on YouTube. To learn more about how registered voters educate themselves on the facts, candidates, and issues before the primaries, Google partnered with political consultants Julie Hootkin and Dr. Frank Luntz. As executive vice president at Global Strategy Group (GSG), Julie has been a consultant to members of Congress, governors, and mayors across the United States, and leads her firm's corporate impact practice, which helps businesses navigate the issues of the day. A preeminent pollster, Frank has been featured on major broadcast networks and is the founder of Luntz Global Partners, which consults Fortune 500 companies and political campaigns alike. How is voter behavior in this election cycle different from four years ago? Dr. Frank Luntz: As of this year, people are spending 40% more time online than on TV. Think about that. They know that digital platforms, whether desktop or mobile—from news websites to Google Search to YouTube—deliver far more convenience than traditional media. In political campaigns, television is still powerful, but voters believe it provides too much spin, too many half-truths, and too little detail. Digital empowers voters to find the precise information and facts they're seeking. They decide the search terms, the content, the time, the length, and well, everything else. As one Iowa Republican voter in our focus group said, "We're more informed than we've ever been because of the internet." We also see this in campaigns for consumer products, financial services, and every other category brand marketers care about. Today's voters are spending more time online, almost two hours for every hour spent watching TV. Julie Hootkin: We're living in an on-demand world. With just the touch of a button, we can watch a movie, order groceries, and hail a cab. Just as easily, we can visit a candidate's website, watch a campaign video on YouTube, and fact-check a candidate's position on Google. People are "on" 24/7, thanks in large part to their smartphones. For political campaigns, this means today's voters are more connected than ever before. They are spending more time online, almost two hours for every hour spent watching TV, and they are increasingly relying on their mobile devices to provide them with answers to their questions in real-time. Almost 60% of elections-related searches are now coming from mobile devices, representing nearly 3X growth since the last presidential election cycle. As a result, campaigns—and brands—have an unprecedented number of opportunities to inform, engage, and persuade voters through digital communications. How are voters engaging online vs. with traditional media? Julie Hootkin: Sometimes it feels like we are trapped in a debate that pits traditional against digital, but the truth of the matter is, it's not a zero-sum game. This goes for both political campaigns and brand marketing: TV is good for some things, and digital is good for others. TV continues to play an important role in introducing candidates to voters, particularly early on in the campaign cycle. But as voters move through the decision-making process and Election Day approaches, digital plays an increasingly important role. Why? We heard from a lot of voters that they don't feel like they get the full story from TV—anyone who's ever written an ad script can tell you, you can only fit about 76 words in a 30-second spot. Voters want more, and they find it online (link is external). People will watch content that matters to them—regardless of length. Dr. Frank Luntz: Voters generally dislike and distrust the over-the-top negative political ads they see on television. Don't get me wrong—they still make an impact. But the 30-second or 60-second spot is not as persuasive and informative as it once was. As an Iowa Democratic voter in our focus group put it, "TV ads don't tell you enough. They're a good starting point, but they're not a good way to make a decision." That's why voters turn to search, news sites, candidate sites, and YouTube to find the full, unedited story and unbiased facts for themselves. --- For the full article written by Kate Stanford, Director of YouTube Advertiser Marketing of Google, visit http://bit.ly/24Unrti (link is external) -
Blog
Political Campaigns Transform TV into Targeting Tool for Political Campaigns
Further loss of privacy, autonomy with granular data targeting
Deep Root Analytics, a leading media analytics company that creates multi-sourced media data platforms for television audience targeting and ad monitoring, announced today that it has teamed up with D2 Media Sales to enable political & advocacy advertisers to target households using proprietary audience segments. Deep Root Analytics has created 26 proprietary segments of voters based on partisan or issue affinity and has pre-matched these segments to D2’s advertising platform, providing addressable TV advertising to nearly 22 million DIRECTV and DISH satellite households. “Today’s political and advocacy advertisers want the effectiveness and efficiency that comes with targeting very specific audiences with TV advertising,” noted Deep Root Analytics CEO Brent McGoldrick. “At Deep Root Analytics, we are focused on ‘bringing big data to big media.’ So, we are thrilled to work with D2 Media Sales and access their best-in-class addressable TV platform to enable our clients to communicate with nearly 22 million DIRECTV & DISH customers.” “We’re excited to bring addressable TV targeting capabilities to Deep Root Analytics clients,” said Mark Failla, Director of Political Ad Sales at D2 Media Sales. “Our targeting technology can serve campaign messages to the most data-qualified voter households, as defined by the advertiser, each time, instead of leaving it to chance.” The proprietary segments created by Deep Root Analytics and made available for addressable advertising via D2 Media Sales include: Reluctant Republicans Disaffected Democrats Swing Voters Senior Swing Voters Young Swing Voters Women Swing Voters Blue Collar Hispanic Persuasion Influentials GOP GOTV GOP Primary 2nd Amendment Voters Jobs Voters Free Trade Energy Voters Anti-Terrorism Immigration Social Conservatives Libertarian Voters Fiscal Conservatives Education Voters Health Care Voters High Disposable Income Minimum Wage Ballot Initiative Pro-Marijuana Ballot Initiative Anti-Marijuana Ballot Initiative The segments created by Deep Root Analytics do not utilize customer data provided by DIRECTV & DISH. --- For more information visit http://bit.ly/2cMQGiR (link is external) -
Reports
The New Age of Food Marketing
How companies are targeting and luring our kids — and what advocates can do about it
This report provides a snapshot of five categories of marketing tactics used by fast food, snack food, and soft drink companies to target children and adolescents. These categories include: 1) creating immersive environments; 2) infiltrating social networks; 3) location-based and mobile marketing; 4) collecting personal data; and 5) studying and triggering the subconscious. Descriptions of these categories along with examples from the food and beverage industry are provided. The report concludes with a discussion of what advocates can do to protect children and adolescents from these harmful marketing tactics. -
Blog
Time to Regulate Role of Algorithms in Political Campaigns
Explosion of Digital Profiling and Targeting of Voters Requires Scrutiny, Safeguards
The Power of Algorithms: AudiencePredictor™ and AudienceExcluder™ Pursue your best audiences by utilizing The Trade Desk’s proprietary targeting algorithms. AudiencePredictor™ employs third party data to identify users who fit your ideal voter profiles. Similarly, AudienceExcluder™ gives you the power to save budget by not serving ads to users who are unlikely to meet your conversion goals….Another important part of the programmatic ecosystem is the push to strategically unite messaging across all devices. Desktop cookies, once thought of as the holy grail of media tracking, have given way to cross device targeting and location analysis. As the average number of connected devices steadily rises, omnichannel marketing is becoming crucial in reaching users with the right message, at the right moment, on the device they’re using at that moment. This capability ensures device appropriate messages are sent throughout the target user’s day. An ad delivered during the work day, for instance, will go to the user’s desktop, while mobile ads are delivered during lunch and after work. With Factual’s datasets integrated into The Trade Desk platform, campaign managers can use hyperlocal segmentation to target mobile users. This level of precision enables candidates to target users in a specific area at the right time. ... Clients of The Trade Desk can tap into Semcasting’s Political Data Suite, which uses IP and location data to target audiences with precision accuracy and maximum reach across devices. With nearly 100 percent of registered voters have been mapped to party, early voting, absentee voters, registered independent party preference, voter activism in Primaries and GOTV, as well as high-value donors and repeat donors, political audiences have never been easier to reach. ... The Trade Desk’s partnership with L2 Political enables clients to access L2’s 160 million record national voter database. This data includes complex vote histories, party IDs, issue profiles and hundreds of fields of demographic and consumer ... Reach current voters on The Trade Desk with i360. With more than 60 political, issue and lifestyle segments, constantly recalibrated and refreshed based on incoming data, i360 provides both the quantity needed to have an impact and the quality necessary to serve meaningful content to responsive audiences. ---- See The Trade Desk Election 2016 PDF attached below. -
Reports
Digital Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents: Problematic Practices and Policy Interventions
This report examines trends in digital marketing to youth that uses "immersive" techniques, social media, behavioral profiling, location targeting and mobile marketing, and neuroscience methods. Recommends principles for regulating inappropriate advertising to youth. -
Re: Exploring Special Purpose National Bank Charters for Fintech Companies Dear Comptroller Curry: The Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) agree with the consumer, civil rights, and community groups and their separately filed group letter in which they expressed strong opposition to the proposed new federal nonbank lending charters. U.S. PIRG also signed and concurs with the detailed comment from National Consumer Law Center et al. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) must not undermine state rate caps; must not weaken states’ ability to oversee lenders and act to prevent harmful lending practices; and the OCC must not undermine efforts to provide fair and inclusive lending practices, particularly for people of color and low- and moderate-income consumers, in the areas where they operate. Further, the OCC must not allow nonbank lenders to engage in practices that violate privacy rights, or engage in unfair data and marketing practices. State laws often operate as the primary line of defense for consumers and small businesses. The OCC’s charter proposal inadequately protects consumers from these harmful practices and it should not take state law enforcers off the beat of preventing these practices. Center for Digital Democracy and U.S. PIRG file this supplemental comment to focus on the digital rights and consumer privacy concerns raised by the use of opaque Big Data algorithms used by Fintech firms. These practices increasingly threaten consumer privacy and the OCC must also take them into account when considering non-bank special purpose charters. An ongoing and increasingly challenging issue confronting citizens and consumers is the new threats to their privacy and their ability to control how personal and non- personal data about their online and offline behavior are collected and used by online financial services companies. The use of personal data by Fintech companies is pervasive and touches every aspect of their business operation, including marketing, customer loyalty management, pricing, fraud prevention, and underwriting. Fintech companies use many new on- and offline data sources, either directly collecting data from consumers or relying on third parties for Big Data analytics to classify consumers and to make predictions about them. Assigning individuals to socially constructed classifications and then making inferences about them based on group profiles is likely to have consequences that are not well understood and may further increase social inequities. Consumers’ privacy is increasingly undermined and no adequate protections are in place. The OCC must not allow an expansion of these practices via a federal charter that does not provide for adequate privacy safeguards. The OCC must proactively investigate unfair marketing practices and not grant national licenses without affirmative protections. Fintech companies are using Facebook, Instagram, and other digital behavioral data that combine data and interactive experiences to influence consumers and their social networks. Sophisticated data-processing capabilities allow for more precise micro-targeting, the creation of comprehensive profiles, and the ability to act instantly on the insights gained from consumer behaviors. Targeted and highly personalized marketing offers can be intrusive and foster consumer behaviors that are not in the best interest of the individual. Behavioral science shows that consumers are susceptible to ‘nudges’ which raises concerns about the risk of financial institutions taking advantage of the behavioral biases and limitations of consumers. Increasing personalization which Big Data makes possible, could also reduce the comparability of products, making it harder for consumers to compare one offer with another which could have an impact on market competition. Similarly, lack of transparency around the processing of data and automated algorithms may lead to increasing information asymmetries between the financial institution and the individual and thus consumers are left with less awareness and a lack of understanding and control over important financial decisions. These practices happen behind the scenes and can only be addressed by a vigilant regulator. The OCC should not allow fintech companies to operate a national license without properly addressing these data practices. The OCC must also not allow nonbank lenders or partner depository institutions to engage in unfair and discriminatory lending practices. The use of ‘alternative data’ sources can be the cause of bias or contain errors and may lead to consumer harm or unfairness. While alternative credit scoring can be a boon for the underbanked, there need to be standards and safeguards to ensure that any new data are not biased and that their use may not lead to unintended consequences. While industry has argued that increased automation will help expand access to credit and lower costs overall, credit models that are more “accurate” may lead to a more stratified society, as it will leave those at the bottom potentially excluded from credit forever. Models that judge individuals against group profiles based on past data inevitably incorporate elements of past inequality and discrimination. Communities of color are thus most vulnerable. Unless additional policies are put in place to address these consequences, inequality is likely to become more entrenched the more we rely on models for risk evaluations. Fintech platforms must comply fully with the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In conclusion, the OCC must not grant new federal nonbank lending charters that would give firms free rein to use unfair data and marketing practices. Instead the OCC must proactively mitigate risks from unfair data, marketing, and lending practices that threaten to undermine privacy, consumer rights and economic inclusion. Sincerely, Jeff Chester and Katharina Kopp Center for Digital Democracy Edmund Mierzwinski U.S. PIRG Recommended further reading: BIG DATA MEANS BIG OPPORTUNITIES AND BIG CHALLENGES: Promoting Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection in the “Big Data” Financial Era U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Center for Digital Democracy, 27 March 2014 Available at http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usf/big-data-means-big-opportunities-and-b... (link is external)
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This report describes and provides examples of the types of digital marketing research utilized by the food and beverage industry and the potential effects it has on the health of children and adolescents. Researchers found that food and beverage industry, together with the companies they contract, are conducting three major types of research: 1) testing and deploying new marketing platforms, 2) creating new research methods to probe consumers’ responses to marketing, and 3) developing new means to assess the impact of new digital research on marketers’ profits. Researchers also found that industry puts this research into action, specifically through its efforts to target communities of color and youth.
