The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has launched a new initiative to ensure that users of news sites are protected from unauthorized collection of data.
The issue of data leakage – the unwanted transfer of data from publishers to third parties, often by the use of cookies associated with advertisements – is a growing issue in the online world. Advertisers and agencies can place these data collectors along with advertisements, which often can collect information even if the user does not click on the advertisement.
WAN-IFRA, the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers, has launched an initiative to create guidelines to prevent the unauthorized collection of data. A draft version of the guidelines can be downloaded at http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/78995 (bottom of the document); an updated version will be released at the World Publishing Expo, to be held in Berlin in October.
"It is important to be transparent about how data is collected and used," said Stig Nordqvist, Executive Director for Emerging Digital Platforms and Business Development at WAN-IFRA. "If we don't control data leakage, we can't assure that private information is used only in ways that users and advertisers have agreed to."
The problem occurs when an advertisement places a cookie on a user's computer via an advertisement on a website without informing the publisher that user data will be collected. The new initiative aims to safeguard trust of users and advertisers by informing them about how data is collected and used. It also aims to safeguard publishers' control of their advertising and prevent unauthorized parties from collecting user information.
