What is Data-Driven Advertising?
EDAA created YourOnlineChoices.eu, a consumer-facing website, to ensure that companies have the means necessary to provide consumers with greater transparency, choice and control over Data-Driven Advertising, or Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA). To find out more about Data-Driven Advertising and how it can provide you with more relevant ads on the websites you visit, take a look at our explainer video.
To exercise your online choices, visit: YourOnlineChoices.eu and select your national version of the website from the home page. From here you will find all the information you need to understand the online data collection and use practices for the delivery of relevant advertising. Plus, the Consumer Choice Platform allows you to conveniently ‘turn off’ (or back on) all Data-Driven Advertising ads served by some or all of the participating companies. These participating companies have agreed to adhere to principles that benefit consumers like yourself.
How does the AdChoices Icon work?
Data-Driven Advertising describes a broad set of activities companies engage in to collect information about your online activity (like webpages you visit) and use it to show you ads or content they believe to be more relevant to you. Companies use a variety of tools to collect information about your browsing activity. They typically use cookies, which are small files stored on your computer when you visit a new website. Companies use these files to help infer your interests based on the pages you visit, the content you click on and other actions you take online.
YourOnlineChoices.eu
An Information portal
We understand that Data-Driven Advertising isn’t always clear to all. YourOnlineChoices.eu was put together to make this topic clearer for everyone. Put simply, Data-Driven Advertising is a practice that is based on internet browsing activity and allows brands to deliver ads to web users which reflect their interests. It’s safe, transparent, and designed to empower you, the consumer. At the heart of this is the ‘AdChoices Icon’ or symbol that appears in the ads you may see online.
3 reasons to care
Complaints & Enforcement
We are proud to work with national advertising Self-Regulatory Organisations (SROs) throughout Europe, operating under the umbrella of the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA).
The EDAA supports EASA’s tried and tested Cross-Border-Complaints mechanism to ensure that consumers are able to register a complaint about a company’s Data-Driven Advertising (or OBA) practices to their national SRO in their own language. Where relevant (actionable), complaints are then transferred to the national SRO in the company’s “Country of Origin”. The competent SRO then handles the complaint, which includes investigation and sanctions (where appropriate). The outcome is communicated to the SRO in the country of the consumer, which is then able to inform the consumer of the resulting actions of their complaint.
This coherent and consistent approach provides real benefit for both consumers and business and is an example of a functional European Digital Single Market initiative.
The following SRO’s cover nearly 400 of the 500+ million people in Europe:
- Bulgaria – Национален съвет за саморегулация (HCC)
- France – Autorité de Régulation Professionelle de la Publicité (ARPP)
- Germany – Deutscher Werberat (DWR)
- Greece – Συμβούλιο Ελέγχου Επικοινωνίας (ΣΕΕ)
- Hungary – Önszabályozó Reklám Testület (ÖRT)
- Ireland – Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI)
- Italy – Istituto dell’Autodisciplina Pubblicitaria (IAP)
- Portugal – Auto Regulação Publicitária (ARP)
- Romania – Consiliul Roman pentru Publicitate (RAC)
- Spain – Asociación para la Autorregulación de la Comunicación Comercial (AUTOCONTROL)
- Sweden – Reklamombudsmannen (Ro.)
- UK – Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
Planning is underway to ensure that further SROs extend their reach.
