Oh Behave, Says Congress

Pending Congressional legislation that would regulate behavioral advertising tops the list of direct marketers’ regulatory concerns, according to Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs at the Direct Marketing Association.

This practice uses information on an individual’s Web site visits to display relevant advertising to those users, he says.

The Federal Trade Commission has called for self-regulation from marketers on the issue, expressing concern the practice isn’t apparent to Internet users. The FTC has issued proposed principles for transparency and consumer choice concerning behavioral advertising.

Marketers should expect bills to be introduced in Congress to restrict the use and collection of information for online behavioral advertising purposes, particularly from Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), notes Cerasale.

Another concern centers on health care reform.

“Part of any health care reform legislation will be improved use of patient data so that medical personnel have more information to make treatment and diagnostic decisions,” he says. “The DMA is closely following the debate on health care to fight against undue regulation of data for marketing purposes, particularly any regulation beyond health care data.”

In addition, bills have been introduced in the Senate to limit the uses of Social Security numbers.

“The DMA has lobbied to maintain the use of Social Security numbers for fraud prevention purposes,” says Cerasale. “If these bills are slated for passage, DMA will work to maintain the fraud prevention provisions.”

Also, marketers should be aware of restrictions on mobile marketing and social networks, he notes.

“Current law, generally, requires permission to advertise via call, text or e-mail to a mobile device,” he says. “Additionally, the DMA is working on guidelines for advertising over social networks.”

The out-of-state use-tax collection issue never seems to go away, despite the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision exempting remote sellers from collecting state use taxes on sales unless they have a physical presence in that state.

“We expect bills to be introduced in the near future to allow states that join the Streamline Sales Tax Agreement (SSTA) to require remote (out of state) marketers to be unpaid tax collectors for those states,” says Cerasale. “The DMA has and will continue to oppose this legislation, particularly since the SSTA is anything but streamlining. The Governing Board of SSTA has been making exceptions — thus adding complexity — to the agreement for specific states.”