Privacy Group Starts Online Targeting Study

The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) - a US lobby group set up to present a privacy agenda to the Barack Obama administration - is to conduct research to examine different methods for communicating with users about online advertising and privacy practices.

The initiative follows a recent report issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which called on the industry to conduct research on consumer understanding in this area.

In response, the study will explore potential tools and notices that companies could use to raise consumer awareness regarding the use of online behavioural advertising data. It will also provide more transparency about how information is used in advertising practices.

Over the next few weeks, FPF will be working with WPP and Nielsen researchers, creative experts and others, to develop a series of communication notices which it will then test with users. The research will also incorporate input from the general public about effective ways to inform consumers of behavioral advertising practices.

'Most consumers do not fully understand the types and amount of information collected by businesses, or why the information may be commercially valuable,' FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour stated. 'It is my hope that this research will help educate the industry and government about more effective ways to communicate with users and remove any confusion consumers may have about data use.'

Web site: www.futureofprivacy.org .