TORONTO – Advertisers who use targeted on-line ads should be upfront with Canadians about what they're doing, and must make it easy for them to opt out of being tracked, says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
Speaking at a conference in Toronto on Tuesday, Commissioner Stoddart launched new guidelines for on-line behavioural advertising which also set out restrictions on the tracking of children and tracking technologies that people can't turn off. Behavioural advertising involves tracking consumers' on-line activities over time, in order to deliver advertisements that are targeted to their inferred interests.
"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", she said. "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 guidance document says that information about behavioural advertising should be clear, obvious and understandable, and that users must be able to easily opt out of this practice. In addition, accepting participation in on-line behavioural advertising should not be considered a condition for general Internet use, and advertisers should avoid collecting sensitive information, such as individuals' health information.
Another restricted area involves the on-line tracking of children. The guidelines state that organizations should avoid knowingly tracking children and tracking on websites aimed at children.
"Children are not likely able to provide the meaningful consent required under our privacy law for the tracking of their online activities”, Commissioner Stoddart added. “This is an increasingly important issue as we see the average age of first-time Internet users dropping."
