Privacy Watchdog Brings Luxury Eyewear Maker and Online Insurance Marketplace into Digital Advertising Compliance

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Jun 18, 2020, 09:48 ET

ARLINGTON, Va., June 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BBB National Programs' Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP) today released two new data privacy cases for Luxottica and Compare.com issuing recommendations and outlining actions taken to date to bring these companies into compliance with the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles (DAA Principles).

Luxottica, an eyewear company known for its popular Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses brands and its LensCrafters chain of eyeglass retailers, and Compare.com, a Virginia-based insurance comparison website, now meet best practices for protecting online consumers by increasing their control over how their data is used in interest-based advertising.

DAAP's in-house technical monitoring determined that Luxottica's websites for Ray-Ban and Oakley sunglasses did not meet the DAA Principles' requirement for "enhanced" notice of targeted advertising and transmitted an inquiry letter to Luxottica.

In response, Luxottica committed to compliance with the DAA Principles and worked with DAAP to add an enhanced notice link and disclosure describing third-party data collection to its U.S.-facing websites, as well as a link for consumers to opt out of interest-based advertising. The company also examined the collection practices of its suite of mobile apps to make sure that precise geolocation data was not collected for advertising purposes without providing correct notice and consent tools to app users. Going forward, Luxottica pledged to provide appropriate disclosures, notices, and consent tools to consumers as needed to comply with the DAA Principles.

In the case of Compare.com, DAAP conducted a data traffic analysis on the company's website in response to a consumer complaint. The analysis revealed the collection of personal data — in particular, web browser cookie data — by third parties for advertising purposes. However, the website lacked the clear and conspicuous notice of this activity and a personal data control mechanism recommended in the DAA Principles.

After DAAP contacted Compare.com, the company agreed to implement each of DAAP's recommendations, bringing itself into compliance with the DAA Principles. These requested changes included:

Incorporating an up-front "enhanced notice" link on every page where third parties collect cookie data, which leads directly to a description of this activity;
Providing a link to the DAA's WebChoices page, to enable users to decide whether third parties can use their cookie data for ad tracking; and
Adding a statement of adherence to the DAA Principles to the company's privacy policy.

Today's case release represents DAAP's 117^th public action since the program began its self-regulatory mission in 2011.

About the Digital Advertising Accountability Program: The Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP), a division of BBB National Programs, was developed by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) to enforce industry self-regulation principles for data privacy in online and mobile advertising, holding companies accountable to the DAA's Privacy Principles. DAAP provides guidance to companies looking to comply with industry principles and responds to complaints filed by consumers about online privacy.

About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs is where businesses turn to enhance consumer trust and consumers are heard. This independent, non-profit organization enhances trust, innovation, and competition in the marketplace through the development and delivery of cost-effective, third-party self-regulation, dispute resolution, and accountability programs. BBB National Programs' 10 leading industry self-regulation and dispute resolution programs resolve business issues of national and international importance, and foster industry best practices in truth-in-advertising, child-directed marketing, data privacy, and dispute resolution. To learn more about industry self-regulation, visit bbbprograms.org. 

SOURCE BBB National Programs