There has been a lot going on in the world of ad privacy. Here’s what you may have missed this quarter.

Lawmakers Demand FBI, DHS, and Others Reveal Purchases of Personal Data That Circumvent Warrants

Data brokers and location aggregators may have helped seven federal agencies sidestep the fourth amendment and avoid warrants to obtain Americans’ private data. For example:

• Securus Technologies helped law enforcement track the locations of cellphones without a warrant. A deputy U.S. marshal allegedly used Securus service to target people he knew and their spouses.
• LexisNexis contracts with over 1,300 local and state law enforcement agencies across the country, including tracking of undocumented immigrants.

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The FTC’s Privacy Rulemaking: Broad and Far-Reaching, but Unlikely to Lead to a Rule Anytime Soon

The FTC stated that they are is still deciding whether to proceed with a rule at all. The ANPR is one step in a long Mag-Moss process including:

1. Review of comments
2. September 8 forum
3. Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPR) and request for comments
4. Informal hearings
5. Development of a final rule
6. Judicial review

The ANPR extends beyond FTC authority, such as protections for children that would require Congress to amend COPPA, and ban certain personalized ads.

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Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Public Forum

The FTC is requesting public comment on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking on commercial surveillance and data security.

The public can offer input on the FTC notice for 60 days and the commission will hold a virtual public forum on September 8. Boltive will be participating with comments.

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Are Hospitals Sending Your Info to Facebook?

A recent test conducted by the Markup, discovered: 33% of the hospitals rated to be the “Best in the United States” by Newsweek were found to be sending consumer’s private medical data to Facebook via Facebook/Meta’s popular website tool, Meta Pixel.

Three had the Meta Pixel code on their websites and seven had the code in password protected patient portals, yet consent to share data was not obtained. 

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Meta Being Sued for Giving US Hospitals Data-tracking Tool That Allegedly Ended Up Disclosing Patient Information to Facebook

When health organizations share user data through the Meta Pixel or other on-page web tags, we can question ethics. But before that, the question was about awareness of the tags to begin with. 

Many companies’ web operations are not standardized, so tags, pixels, beacons and other third parties are added without oversight. A policy for periodic review and removal using scanning technology avoids embarrassing and illegal situations.

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The Contrary Consumer: Average Person Wants Both Privacy AND Personalization

Braze Dynata survey finds 49% of consumers value data privacy over personalization. We expected this number to be higher. Key reasons consumers opt-in include access to perks and because it's too hard to opt-out.

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EU to Open San Francisco Office Focused on Tech Regulation

The new office reflects the influence of the US tech center and the trailblazing nature of California privacy laws. It will work with companies regulated by European Union rules.

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I Was on TikTok for 30 Days: It Is Manipulative, Addictive and Harmful to Privacy

The article author found that TikTok is manipulative, addictive, and has negative effects on users' privacy.

• Manipulation. They get you hooked as soon as you login with an attention grabbing “For You” page.
• Dopamine shot from likes and subscribers. The more popular content users post, the more dopamine hits they get.
• Everything is impressive and intermittent reinforcement. Ties back to dopamine.
• Privacy. The platform has triggers for compulsive behavior and relevant privacy concerns. It starts collecting data as soon as you download the apps and tracks the websites you browse. 

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Amazon Buys Health-care Chain for $3.9 Billion

A take on how walled gardens (one in particular) may be the target of anti-trust and pro-privacy regulators through the use of first party data.

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FTC Committed to Fully Enforcing Law Against Illegal Use and Sharing of Highly Sensitive Data

The FTC is heating up enforcement of privacy laws around sensitive data, deceptive claims around anonymization, and consumer data misuse.

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