On December 6, 2011, the federal Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart issued new online tracking guidelines for advertisers which, among other things, restrict the tracking of children and tracking technologies people can’t opt out of (i.e., turn off).
In making the announcement, which were part of remarks made at the Marketing and the Law Conference in Toronto (see: “Respecting Privacy Rights in the World of Online Behavioural Advertising”, Remarks by Jennifer Stoddard, Privacy Commissioner of Canada at the Marketing and the Law Conference (Toronto, December 6, 2011)), the Privacy Commissioner said:
“The use of online behavioural advertising has exploded and we’re concerned that Canadians’ privacy rights aren’t always being respected. Many Canadians don’t know how they’re being tracked – and that’s no surprise because, in too many cases, they have to dig down to the bottom of a long and legalistic privacy policy to find out. …
Some people like receiving ads targeted to their specific interests. Others are extremely uncomfortable with the notion of their online activities being tracked. People’s choices must be respected.”
The new guidelines, intended to assist organizations engaged in online behavioural advertising to ensure that their practices are “fair and transparent” and compliant with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), say that information about behavioural advertising should be clear, obvious and understandable and that people should be able to easily able to opt out. (The Office of the Privacy Commissioner defines “behavioural advertising” as tracking consumers online activities over time in order to deliver advertisements targeted to their inferred interests.)
The new guidelines set out several specific restrictions regarding the use of behavioural advertising, including the ability to opt out, restricting the use of “web bugs or web beacons, super cookies, pixel hacks or device fingerprinting” or other types of “covert tracking” technologies where a user is unaware and cannot decline behavioural advertising and restrictions on the collection of certain types of health information, including health information.
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