Updated: Canoe Ventures Part Of House Hearing On Online Privacy, Targeted Marketing
Canoe Responds To Center For Digital Democracy Over Privacy, Antitrust Concerns
By John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 4/22/2009 4:26:00 PM
Look for Democrats on the House Communications, Technology & Internet Subcommittee to focus, at least in part, on cable interactive ad initiative Canoe Ventures in their hearing on online privacy and targeted marketing Thursday.
That's according to Center For Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester, who says his group supplied information on the project at the request of committee members.
The hearing is slated for 10 a.m. Thursday. Witnesses include NCTA president Kyle McSlarrow and Free Press policy director Ben Scott.
Canoe Ventures is the targeted ad initiative launched last year by cable's heaviest hitters -- Comcast, Cox, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision and Charter.
Canoe said at the Cable Show earlier this month that it was preparing to launch an addressable ad product by early May.
Chester wants Congress to investigate the ad system on both antitrust and privacy grounds. "When six of the largest cable companies jointly create a highly powerful consumer profiling and targeting system that will track when consumers do in their homes, serious scrutiny is required," said Chester.
Canoe responded to Chester's suggestion there were privacy and antitrust issues in an e-mail to MCN, including outlining its upcoming product launch.
"Canoe Ventures is designing and building products not only to comply with the comprehensive privacy rules that govern the cable industry but also according to best practices in protecting consumer privacy," the company said.
It described its initial product --still on track for the aforementioned May launch -- as "a community addressable messaging product which allows for the delivery of a different version of an ad to groupings of households (a community) based on third-party, demographic market research."
It pointed out that direct mailers use a similar technique to target their messages.
"Community addressable messaging does not use deep packet inspection, personally identifiable information, nor set-top box data," said the company. "Cable subscribers already are notified about the general use of third-party demographic data via cable operator privacy notices. As we build a common foundation for advanced advertising capabilities that TV networks can use to make ads more relevant, useful and engaging for customers, all of our products are being developed with consumer privacy protection at the forefront."
As to their being an antitrust problem with the top operators teaming on the venture, Canoe said that "such joint ventures are commonly used by cable operators to develop a common technology platform to address issues and support research and development."
Subcommittee chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) told Multichannel News that one of his legislative priorities is a law that would restrict how behavioral marketers could collect and use information to target their advertising. He is currently working on a bill to that effect.
-
More handwringing from our politicians. We're watching TV, on public airways. Get over it.
Kendra Williams - 4/22/2009 1:13:04 PM EDT
No related content found.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
