Application of DAA Principles to Cross-Device Environment [REPORT]

The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) released initial guidance to help companies apply the DAA’s Self-Regulatory Principles in the rapidly growing cross-device environment. The guidance makes clear that the transparency and choice obligations in the existing Principles apply to cross-device data practices, which are also subject to the DAA’s independent enforcement.

Today’s announcement helps explain how the Principles apply to browser- and app-based choices made by a consumer to data collected on that browser or device for use elsewhere. It also states that consumer choice applies to data collected elsewhere for use on that browser or device.

The DAA cross-device guidance, titled “Application of the DAA Principles of Transparency and Control to Data Used Across Devices,” will help participants in the digital advertising ecosystem better understand their obligations regarding cross-device data. It also ensures that a consistent self-regulatory framework is applied to the collection and use of such data across the multiple computers and mobile devices used by consumers.

“Consumers are racing into a multi-device world at a rapid pace, seamlessly multi-tasking on desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones in their digital activities,” said DAA Executive Director Lou Mastria. “This guidance helps companies understand how the DAA’s core Principles of notice and choice should be applied cross-device environments, and it will give consumers confidence that cross-device data practices will be fully disclosed and that the choices they make on each browser or device will be honored and independently enforced.”

The DAA cross-device guidance was drafted through an inclusive process that brought together many of the leading companies and associations in the digital advertising space, as well as consultation with other stakeholders. The DAA will continue to evaluate their implications for all participants in the digital advertising ecosystem, including the ways to provide notice and choice to consumers under the DAA Principles. This guidance represents an initial step in interpreting the DAA Principles in this space.

“Effective self-regulatory regimes must adapt to changing technologies and business practices, and the DAA has proven itself nimble in addressing the transformation in digital advertising driven by mobile and cross-device usage,” said DAA General Counsel Stu Ingis. “This cross-device guidance makes clear that the DAA Principles apply to cross-device data practices and gives consumers information and control over the use of data from each device they own.”

Adapting to changes in the digital space, the DAA has also issued guidance in recent years to address the growth of mobile usage (“Application of Self-Regulatory Principles to the Mobile Environment”) and multi-site data usage (“Self-Regulatory Principles for Multi-Site Data”).

Consumer use of multiple Internet devices continues to grow at a staggering pace. According to a recent survey, 79% of consumers aged 18-64 use at least three devices a day, and the average household now owns 5.7 Internet-connected devices.

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