Online ads must let Canadians opt-out of trackers, privacy czar says

Toronto? The Canadian Press

Published Tuesday, Dec. 06, 2011 10:44AM EST

Last updated Tuesday, Dec. 06, 2011 10:56AM EST

The privacy commissioner says advertisers who use targeted online ads need to be upfront with Canadians about what they're doing and must make it easy for people to say No to being tracked.

Jennifer Stoddart has launched new guidelines for online behavioural advertising which also restrict tracking of children and tracking technologies that people can't turn off.

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Behavioural advertising involves tracking consumers' online activities over time in order to deliver advertisements that are targeted to their inferred interests.

Ms. Stoddart says its use has ?exploded? and she's concerned that Canadians' privacy rights aren't always respected.

She says it's no surprise many Canadians don't know how they're being tracked because too often they have to dig to the bottom of a long and legalistic privacy policy to find out.

Her new policy says information about behavioural advertising should be clear, obvious and understandable.

Accepting participation in online behavioural advertising should not be considered a condition for people to use the Internet generally, she said. People must be able to easily opt out of the practice.

?If an individual can't say ?No? to the technology being used for tracking or targeting, then the industry shouldn't use that technology for behavioural advertising purposes,? she told an advertising industry conference in Toronto.

?So, in the current online behavioural advertising environment, that means no use of web bugs or web beacons, no super cookies, no pixel hacks, no device fingerprinting and no to any new covert tracking technique of which the user is unaware and has no reasonable way to decline.?

Another restricted area involves the online 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,? she said. ?This is an increasingly important issue as we see the average age of first-time Internet users dropping.?

The guidelines also say advertisers should avoid collecting other sensitive information, such as individuals' health information.

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