TrustArc was pleased to once again participate as a Gold sponsor in the Digital Advertising Alliance Summit–which this year returned to Washington, D.C.

 

TrustArc is one of only two Approved Providers of the globally-recognized AdChoices Icon, a tool that lets consumers know and control when information about their inferred interests may be collected or used to show tailored advertising.

 

Hundreds of companies participate in the DAA’s YourAdChoices program, which TrustArc supports, allowing for enhanced notice and easy opt-outs from interest-based advertising.

 

The Summit’s first day featured a visit to Capitol Hill to share with Congresspersons and U.S. Senators the benefits of the data-driven ads ecosystem and effective self-regulation.

 

Day two saw an accountability workshop focused on helping enterprise marketers and their ad partners stay abreast of legislative developments and compliance, including discussions on the California Consumer Privacy Act, malvertising/fraud, ad tech-related contracts trends, PoliticalAds and a federal privacy legislation update.

 

Day three included in-depth discussions of the future of ad-supported news, the changing landscape of content and advertising, uses of data for good (e.g., helping non-profits and disaster response), algorithmic bias and over-the-top (OTT) advertising as a growing alternative to linear TV.

 

Darren Abernethy, TrustArc Senior Counsel, took part on a panel entitled “Brand Relevance in a Privacy-First Era.” The session focused on specifically how to think about risk and operationalize accountability as a brand, publisher, data broker or other ad tech participant.

 

A major premise was that an organization’s brand safety and consumer-facing reputational strength actually stems from proper privacy, data security and training practices on the backend.

Key areas examined included:

    • Being able to demonstrate proactivity, good faith business judgment and proper data governance through the use of centralized data processing record-keeping and reporting (useful also for the C-suite, shareholders or regulators);
    • offering and regularly reinforcing granular controls to consumers rather than demanding one-time, all-or-nothing acquiescence for omni-channel marketing, cookies, etc.; and
    • developing privacy programs around a core set of controls and technology solutions that are designed to be leveraged for interoperability among global data protection laws–so that the organization need only make adjustments for local law variations, rather than “reinvent the [compliance] wheel” each time.

 

Other discussion points included valuing data through quantifying risk–to individuals and the organization–such as by likelihood and severity of potential harm; how to generate trust through ad tech-specific individuals rights verifications; and the significance of certifications and industry-specific codes of conduct.