New guidelines for online tracking unveiled by privacy commissioner

Magazine publishers who rely on data mining their readers' use of online content or assisting their advertisers to do so may have some pause when they review the new guidelines unveiled by Canadian privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart.  The guidelines are intended to restrict how marketers can track users and require them to allow users to opt out.

According to a story in the Financial Post, Stoddart says 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.”

While some people like receiving subsequent messages targetted to their interests, based on their web usage habits, others are extremely uncomfortable, said Stoddart. 

“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 said.

“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.”

Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie