Internet Advertisers Revise Privacy Program After FTC Concerns

An Internet-advertising industry program to enforce privacy safeguards is expanding in response to concerns from US regulators and consumer advocacy groups.

The voluntary program, announced last year by an advertising-industry coalition, calls for letting consumers block ads that are based on their Web-browsing habits. The Federal Trade Commission expressed concern that the program didn’t apply to other forms of online tracking. The changes will let consumers block other kinds of Internet-data collection, with the exception of information gathering required for companies’ “operations and system management,” said Stu Ingis, general counsel for the Digital Advertising Alliance, which administers the program. The alliance “has announced important changes to address how data can be collected and used online,” Jessica Rich, deputy director of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau, said. “We’ve been encouraging them to make these changes and believe it’s an important step for consumers and for self-regulation.”