Author Archive
Online Behavioral Advertising-Europe Gets Serious
Posted by: | CommentsOn June 24, the Article 29 Working Party (WP29) published an opinion clarifying how and why particular rules apply to online behavioral advertising. This was a long-expected opinion by this statutory advisory body consisting of the Data Protection Commissioners of the countries of the European Union.
Not surprisingly, WP29 concludes that online behavioral advertising networks and website publishers have an obligation to obtain affirmative and meaningful consent from individuals whose personal information will be gathered through cookies. WP29 is extremely influential in Europe, and increasingly abroad, and marketers and advertisers are advised to pay careful attention to this opinion. Its format and expertise are a new standard, in our view, and the legal reasoning impeccable.
The 24 page opinion provides a primer on the technologies involved in planting cookies and reading the data. This alone is worth the reading. In part, in addition to the carefully reasoned option, this well-informed explanation and comprehension of the technology provides an underlying credibility to what is a very sophisticated opinion.
For a complete analysis of the opinion and what it means for ad networks, website owners (“publishers of the ads”), marketers, and, of all things, browser software companies, read the exhaustive analysis of the opinion in the forthcoming June edition of The Prescott Report.
Consultative Committee Update-and Hold A Date
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Outline of the Global Addressing Summit
Global Addressing Summit being organized by the Consultative Committee of the UPU for April 23. Save The Date.
It is a pleasure for me to report that the Consultative Committee work on the address is proceeding very quickly. At the last Management Committee meeting on December 10 and 11, the Address Working Group brainstormed next steps for the Global Addressing Summit, and began blocking out the program and articulating topics. This is not as easy as one would think, since we have no precedents to guide us.
The work then was delegated to a special committee of volunteers. Through the generosity of Experian and its global conferencing facility, we conducted a 2-hour phone conference with Group Chair Steve Lopez, Experian, and Co-Chair Chris Powell (Royal Mail) in London and the rest of us from Brussels to lots of other places contributed ideas.
Save the date and come to Berne and the UPU on April 23 for the Global Addressing Summit. The Summit will focus on four aspects/subjects surrounding the physical address: the economic benefits of an address and address system, interoperability (think cross-border mail or post-private courier relations), customer perspectives (think costs of redelivery and wasted mail), and standards. We are focusing on private sector and business use of and relationship to the address, and the economic benefits thereof. The committee is now hard at work seeking speakers and papers. Speaker proposals, ideas, commentary may be sent to Editor@PrescottReport.com and we will see they reach the committee. Read More→
Behaviorial Advertising Definitely At Risk-You’re Stalking ME?
Posted by: | CommentsWe suspect that targeted/behavioral advertising is going to be a very, very hot topic in the coming months. The recently published study and analysis of a survey done under the auspices of the Annenberg School for Communication and the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology is a shocker, and a wake-up call to business. Read on, especially if you are a marketer. Read More→
UPU and Revenue Protection. Get Paid!
Posted by: | Comments[The following blog is provided by the Chair of the Working Group on Postal Revenue Protection of the Consultative Committee of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), Jean-Philippe Ducasse of Pitney-Bowes, Inc . It provides a valuable insight into a project which is representative of the work of the Committee, which represents companies and associations having an interest in the mission of the UPU.
It may come as a surprise to readers, but postal systems are very complex entities when it comes to income collection. The business is not very straightforward. At the counter, you hand over a letter and it’s measured and you pay for it. For the bulk of a busy post, that is a minor part of their business. For example, when a big truck pulls Read More→
Report from Bern and the UPU
Posted by: | CommentsDelegates are coming and going in greater and greater numbers at the Universal Postal Union’s headquarters in Switzerland’s capital, Bern, as the Fall meetings of its constitutent bodies begin. First to assemble are the working groups of the Postal Operations Council, the working committees who undertake the work that results in improved interactions between and among posts, and better and more valuable services for postal customers.
The projects and scope of these committees range the gamut of all postal operations, and include the critical subject of protecting revenues and the integrity of the system. A major project was launched by the Consultative Committee, the private sector’s representative body, in partnership with the Postal Security Action Group. Chaired by Jean-Philippe Ducasse of Pitney Bowes, the committee briefed the the PSAG on its Read More→
Universal Postal Union Meetings
Posted by: | CommentsThere will be major progress starting this coming week at the UPU as delegates begin to arrive from the 191 member countries for the semi-annual meetings of the Council of Administration and the Postal Operations Council. Many issues await. They range from the digital and sublime to the ground-level and very physical, dare I say “pedestrian”, as they are very practical indeed. Read More→
