California Mobile Privacy Guidelines Don't Speak for Internet Community

Leading Internet associations criticize California AG for lack of buy-in and process on critical policy issue

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of the nation's leading Internet advertising, marketing, and media associations today criticized California Attorney General Kamala Harris for publishing mobile privacy guidelines developed without the engagement or consultation of the vast majority of companies and consumers likely to be affected by them.

In a letter sent to Harris in response to her office's report Privacy on the Go: Recommendations for the Mobile Ecosystem, these leading associations expressed concern with the California AG publishing such an extensive document with so little external input. A copy of the letter, cosigned by American Association of Advertising Agencies, American Advertising Federation, Association of National Advertisers, National Business Coalition on E-Commerce & Privacy, Direct Marketing Association, Interactive Advertising Bureau, and the Association of Magazine Media is available at http://the-dma.org/government/InternetTradeAssoicationLettertoCAAG.PDF .

"We are disappointed that the California Attorney General would finalize a recommendations on such an important issue based on such limited engagement with the companies that will be expected to put them into practice," said Mike Zaneis, Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the Interactive Advertising Bureau. "Had our associations, and the hundreds of companies they represent, been consulted, we could have provided valuable perspective on how we already protect consumers on mobile platforms and have developed leading programs that provide transparency and control to consumers."

Added Jerry Cerasale, Senior Vice President of the Direct Marketing Association, "these are important issues that could have been addressed in a much more open, inclusive and constructive manner for the thousands of California employers impacted by the report and the millions of Internet users they serve.  The multi-stakeholder process in California failed because it did not have broader representation including the very businesses that provide the mobile apps."

SOURCE Direct Marketing Association