Entry Details

About the Entry

Category: 
All Content > Technical Article > Northeast

Title of entry: 
The Sharp Analysis Our Readers Expect

Issue or Publication date:
Jan. 5, 2023

Publication name: 
AdExchanger

Publishing/parent company: 
Access Intelligence

View Website home page:
https://www.adexchanger.com/

Description of the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

Our readers visit AdExchanger for news, analysis and perceptive coverage of the topics and trends transforming digital media and marketing.

This is the information that marketers, media buyers, publishers and ad tech vendors need to do their jobs and understand the world around them as the ground shifts underfoot.

One of the biggest fault lines affecting the online advertising industry today is the increasing focus on data privacy and protection by regulators, consumers and technology platforms alike.

Platforms and browsers are instituting new privacy policies and frameworks that are disrupting the online advertising industry to its core. Regulators are starting to get more serious about compliance. And new privacy laws are going into effect around the globe with more on the way.

But doing business in this new world requires more than looking to the future. Advertisers and publishers also need to be aware of decades-old privacy laws already on the books that are being stretched by consumer litigants to attack companies for routine data-sharing practices.

The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), passed in 1988 during the “Blockbuster era,” is one such law – and it’s putting TV broadcasters in an awkward bind.

But why is a privacy law from the 1980s that prohibits “video tape service providers” from sharing personally identifiable information such as a person’s video rental history without consent affecting viewership data access in 2023?

The reason is because the plaintiffs’ bar is well known for pushing the boundaries of old laws to impose liability for the use of new technologies.

Ad buyers spending on connected TV want to know exactly where their ads are running. But their legitimate demands for more transparency are being met with resistance. Streaming services say they’re unable to share this information for fear of running afoul of the VPPA.

Associate Editor Alyssa Boyle dives into the details, explaining how a law passed before the commercial internet even existed is now an obstacle between advertisers and the viewership data they need from media companies.

Alyssa speaks to stakeholders from across the industry, including buyers, sellers and lawyers, to clearly explain the VPPA’s ongoing impact on CTV data visibility.

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https://www.adexchanger.com/digital-tv/the-blockbuster-era-law-behind-connected-tvs-transparency-problem/

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