Data privacy is a hot-button topic with consumers, businesses, and advertisers alike. With all the discussion, it’s difficult to keep up with proposed legislation at the state and national level – not to mention the short- and long-term implications of those changes.
There is an effort underway by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) in conjunction with many other national organizations and associations to work with lawmakers to craft one, comprehensive federal data privacy law.
I had the pleasure of being part of Advocacy in Action: Advertising Day on the Hill a couple of weeks ago in Washington, DC. And while AAF representatives were on the Hill lobbying our elected representatives on a number of issues, Data Privacy is one issue we addressed that will have a far-searching impact.
Here’s are some key takeaways for you to know about our AAF’s efforts:
- Consumer trust is vital to advertisers’ ability to successfully operate in the marketplace.
- AAF feels advertisers must take that responsibility seriously by engaging in responsible data practices.
- Many states are looking at enacting their own privacy laws, and (BOLD) AAF opposes those efforts. Such laws would result in a patchwork of inconsistent and contradictory privacy regimes, making compliance difficult, if not impossible.
AAF believes that the adoption of a national standard is essential. AAF is suggesting to the Federal Trade Commission a new paradigm for a national privacy standard that could, and should, weigh factors including transparency, choice, downstream contractual protections, and data security is just a few of many considerations.
As a long-term member of AAF and the AAF District 10 Government Relations representative, I am working to help AAF have a voice in these discussions as we work to better understand the issues as well as the implications of the many bills being introduced. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at Kearley.
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