Beijing – May 28, 2015 – Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) today announced the launch of Digital Ad Ratings in China in collaboration with Tencent, further expanding the solution’s global footprint. Currently available in eight other markets (Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, U.K. and U.S.), Digital Ad Ratings has become the industry standard for digital campaign measurement globally.

The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), in its ongoing efforts to monitor the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), has filed a motion in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia challenging the FTC’s refusal to release important COPPA documentation. The case involves seven “safe harbor” programs, such as KidSAFE and TRUSTe, approved by the FTC to handle website compliance with COPPA regulations.

Digital Data and Consumer Protection: Ensuring a Fair and Equitable Financial Marketplace.

Author and Professor Frank Pasquale discusses his new book "The Black Box Society," on the growing use of secret algorithms to categorize consumers.

A Project of US PIRG Education Fund & Center for Digital Democracy 

Washington: Two leading consumer organizations told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today to issue rules so consumers can use mobile financial services without placing their privacy at risk or exposing themselves to new forms of predatory lending and other unfair practices.  The groups—U.S. PIRG and the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD)— submitted comments to the agency as part of its inquiry on mobile financial services.

 Washington, DC: The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), along with U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, and Public Citizen, called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into the impact on the American public of growing consolidation in consumer offline and online data sources and digital marketing applications. The groups also asked for the FTC to hold a public workshop focused on ensuring Americans receive 21st century safeguards protecting their privacy in online transactions, and a truly competitive marketplace.

On 3 December 2014 a coalition of privacy and consumer groups sent a Joint Submission to APEC asking for significant changes to the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules system (CBPRs). The submission is available here.

Live Nation Entertainment is "the world's leading live entertainment company."  Like everyone else, it wants to use the data it gathers on its customers to target them online.  Although the company, in this interview, says this will be done in a privacy way, they should be required to publicly demonstrate the case.  This is something the FTC and other regulators should also review.  Here's the excerpt from the

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a powerful and disturbing privacy wake-up call. The report reveals the largely invisible Big Data-driven complex that regularly spies on every American, comprehensively following our activities both online and off. It delivers a critical “black eye” to the data-broker industry, which has cynically expanded its surveillance on Americans without regard to their privacy.

Today is the deadline for Comments to be filed for the White House's forthcoming report on "Big Data."  NGOs pressed the Administration to include public comments during its 90-day inquiry that is led by Senior WH Counselor John Podesta.  Our comments are attached.  Here's an excerpt: