Legislative Positions
The OPA posts comments defining its position on current or pending legislation which affects the online publishing industry and/or its audience.
- Statement from OPA regarding the FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising
- OPA Comments on FTC Behavioral Advertising
- FTC "Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting and Technology" Town Hall
- HR 29, The Spy Act
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Statement from OPA regarding the FTC's Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising
In the ongoing discussion about consumer privacy and online advertising, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) is pleased that in the updated Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising released today, the FTC recognized that "first party" and contextual advertising do not belong within the definition of behavioral targeting. The OPA will continue to evaluate the updated Principles in order to determine appropriate next steps for the online publishing industry. We look forward to working with the commission and other industry groups to ensure that the consumer gets the best experience online.
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OPA Comments on FTC Behavioral Advertising Principlesl
On April 11th, 2008, the Online Publishers Association (OPA) offered its support for the Federal Trade Commission’s goals of promoting self regulation of online advertising and improving consumer awareness of behavioral advertising practices. In addition, OPA emphasized that overbroad restrictions on behavioral advertising could jeopardize publishers’ ability to create and deliver high quality and free content on the Web. OPA recommended to the FTC a modified definition of behavioral advertising that focuses on the collection and use of personally-identifiable information, as opposed to data collected from website visitors on an anonymous basis.
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Comments on FTC Behavioral Advertising Principles
- View the complete comments submitted by OPA President Pam Horan | PDF
- View letter from Nina Link, President and CEO of the Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), filed in support of the OPA comments | PDF
- View Full Press Release | PDF
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FTC "Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting and Technology" Town Hall
The Online Publishers Association (OPA) participated in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Town Hall meeting on behavioral advertising online. OPA President Pam Horan, who took part in a panel discussion regarding the business and technology of online advertising issued the following statement:
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Comments on FTC “Ehavioral Advertising: Tracking, Targeting and Technology” Town Hall
“Any discussion of online advertising must begin with an understanding of the critical role it plays in the publishing business and the tremendous value online publishers provide to American consumers.
“Online advertising allows OPA members to provide quality, free content to consumers globally. Online business practices, such as site usage tracking and content and behavioral targeting make this advertising particularly effective and significantly more valuable to consumers. Ultimately, these advertising tools make it possible for vast amounts of content to be available at no charge to the Web’s 148 million U.S. consumers.*
“Without online advertising and the tools that ensure its effectiveness, publishers simply wouldn’t be able to provide consumers with so much useful, desirable and free content. In fact, consumers have shown an understanding and appreciation for the relationship between ads and online content. As an example, the OPA recently found that more than half of online video viewers say they actually prefer watching ads in exchange for not having to pay for video content. And they want publishers to deliver ads that are relevant to their online experience – 56 percent of consumers prefer ads that relate to the video content they are viewing.
“The tools that make advertising an effective business model are the same tools that ensure that consumers’ online experiences are tailored to meet their needs. These are not only things that make the Web experience incredibly valuable; they are things that consumers have come to expect.
“It’s important to note that the quality content providers that make up the OPA hold themselves to the highest standards of editorial quality, integrity, and accountability. Throughout OPA Member companies, privacy and user data security are of the utmost importance. All OPA Members post privacy policies on their sites that address the collection and use of data, and any user that is affected by material changes to these policies is notified by email.”
* At home audience; Nielsen NetRatings, August 2007 |
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HR 29, The Spy Act
The text below addresses H. R. 29, identified as the SPY ACT, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on January 4, 2005. Click here to access the complete text and history of H. R. 29 on the Library of Congress' THOMAS Web site.
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Comments on H.R. 29, The SPY ACT
The OPA fully supports legislation designed to prevent deceptive practices and encourage proper disclosure for use of personally identifiable information. The OPA recognizes that a vibrant online business environment is dependent upon consumers' faith and trust in the Internet.
We believe the current draft of H.R. 29 makes the appropriate distinction between "spyware" and "cookies." Cookies are text files read by a Web browser. Unlike spyware, cookies do not have the ability to log keystrokes, take over a user's computer, change settings, or cause involuntary actions that distract a user from his or her tasks.
It is currently a best practice for Web publishers to disclose in their privacy policies how cookies are used on their site. It is already a standard feature of the dominant Web browsers to provide privacy settings as a means for consumers to control the use of cookies placed on their computers. These settings are specifically designed so that consumers can insure that the use of any cookies placed on their computers while visiting a specific website is fully disclosed within that site's privacy policy.
Cookies enable a wide variety of product enhancements to the great benefit of consumers. Web publishers use cookies to understand how visitors interact with their sites, in a non-invasive manner, which helps them deliver the most relevant content and advertising. Requiring disclosure and consent each time a cookie is placed onto a user's computer would unnecessarily disrupt a user's experience, which is not consistent with the intent of the legislation. Further, such requirements may cause consumers to make choices against their own best interests without fully recognizing that they may be needlessly deteriorating, as opposed to improving, their online experience.
Finally, as discussed, the current privacy protection settings built into Web browsers empower consumers to easily make their own decisions about their comfort with cookies by allowing them to scale their exposure from zero tolerance to unfettered use. These privacy settings, which are completely under consumer control, can be easily tailored, on a site-by-site basis, to reflect varying degrees trust consumers might have for different sites.
Therefore, we believe it would be prudent for the language in H.R. 29 to clarify that the exemption should be for all cookies and not leave open the possibility for the inclusion of cookies later pursuant to unilateral Federal Trade Commission action or as a result of conflicting legislation enacted at the State level.
Importantly, and in light of the foregoing, we believe the FTC review called for in the legislation would be more appropriately focused on the privacy safeguards that exist with respect to management of cookies, including consumers' ability to do so through the settings on their Web browsers. By way of background, this system of cookie management draws upon the Industry self-regulation guidelines developed in conjunction with the FTC and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Such a review will enable Congress to determine whether or not these safeguards are sufficient to guard against the unauthorized use of personally identifiable information that the SPY Act is intended to prevent.
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