CMOR Requests Another Research Exemption

In the US, the Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) has responded to the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) proposals to regulate online behavioral advertising, by requesting that any definition of the practice excludes survey opinion and marketing research.

CMOR joins a coalition, made up of eleven industry trade groups, which is lobbying against proposals which include a recommendation that a 'do not track' list be established to allow consumers to opt out of behavioral tracking, as well as make the tracking process itself more transparent.

While the council supports most of the concepts and goals underpinning the FTC's principles, it says that such online research could have 'profoundly positive benefits' for consumers and citizens and is worth preserving.

It added its belief that online behavioral tracking could be a form of research particularly well-suited to the needs of non-profit entities, political activists, and for-profit businesses that are small or serve niche markets and interests.

'As currently conceived, the FTC's definition could include and restrict behavioral tracking for legitimate research purposes, including the use of cookies,' said Howard Fienberg, CMOR's Director of Government Affairs. 'The FTC's position could strangle many possible new methods of research - methods that could better serve consumer choice and privacy than current methods, before they've even been conceived.'

The coalition of 11 trade associations represents the advertising, marketing, financial services, retail and Internet industries and includes the American Advertising Federation, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Direct Marketing Association and the US Chamber of Commerce.

CMOR is a non-profit trade association serving as an advocate for the survey and opinion research profession. The organisation recently helped defeat proposed legislation that would have required disclosure of a poll's sponsor at the beginning of each research call.

Web site: www.cmor.org .