A stitch in time?
On Friday Microsoft submitted a proposal to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in Washington for a five-tiered system to protect consumer privacy. The proposal calls for privacy standards specific to each of five levels of consumer interaction with websites:
· Organizations that keep records of page views or collect other information about consumers for the purpose of delivering ads or ad-related services on their own sites should post a privacy policy on their home page, implement reasonable security procedures, and retain data only as long as necessary to fulfil a legitimate business need, or as required by law.
· Organizations that engage in delivering online advertisements or services across unrelated third-party sites should ensure that consumers receive notice of the privacy practices of those sites.
· Organizations that seek to develop a behavioural profile of consumers to deliver advertising across unrelated third-party sites should also offer consumers a choice about the use of their information for such purposes.
· At a minimum, third parties that rely on personally identifiable information, such as a name, email address, physical address or phone number, to deliver ads or related services across multiple sites, or for behavioural advertising, should give consumers the ability to opt out of having personally identifiable information collected for the purpose of targeting ads.
· Third parties should be required to obtain affirmative express consent before using sensitive personally identifiable information, such as health or medical conditions, sexual behaviour or orientation, or religious beliefs, for behavioural advertising.
The proposal was submitted in response to the FTC’s request for comments on its own proposed self-regulatory principles to govern online advertising.
‘We welcome the opportunity to work with the FTC to ensure that online consumers benefit from meaningful privacy protections,’ said Brad Smith, senior VP, general counsel and corporate secretary of Microsoft’s Legal and Corporate Affairs department.
‘Even as consumers value the benefits of online advertising, they may not fully appreciate the role data collection plays in the delivery of online advertising,’ Smith continued. ‘Microsoft’s proposed guidelines will help consumers receive relevant and helpful information while helping ensure their privacy is respected.’
