Lashback Announces Sponsorship of 6th Annual Online Trust Forum October 17-19 in Washington, DC.

Conference Explores Solutions for “Realizing the Promise of Trust” Online

St. Louis, MO September 19, 2011 –LashBack, today announced it is a sponsor of The Online Trust Alliance (OTA)’s 6th Annual Online Trust Forum, “Realizing the Promise of Trust”, to be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel, Washington, DC, October 17-19, during National Cyber Security Awareness month. LashBack enables transparency and compliance in email marketing for advertisers, networks, publishers, agencies, esps, and regulators. LashBack services allow companies to monitor their reputation online and gives them insight into how their brand is being used in commercial email. Companies who use LashBack build consumer trust.

“The Online Trust Forum is all about the people and organizations who have stepped up to provide stewardship for today’s online ecosystem,” said Craig Spiezle, Executive Director of the Online Trust Alliance.  “We salute their leadership and support their efforts in mitigating emerging privacy, identity and security threats and enhancing online trust.  Combined these are keys to the vitality of the internet.  We look forward to LashBack’s participation in this year’s Forum.”

“In the interest of helping companies protect their reputation and online brand presence, we are proud supporters of the Online Trust Forum,” said LashBack CEO Brandon Phillips. “Through industry leadership, we hope to build and improve upon the trust consumers have for companies in email and online.”

The only conference dedicated to a 360º perspective of online trust, with the viewpoints of government, business, marketers, and consumers, the 2011 Online Trust Forum provides a unique platform for exploring solutions for protecting consumer trust and online confidence.

Forum attendees will gain valuable insights into ideas and best practices for promoting the vitality of online commerce and consumer trust, hearing multiple perspectives on: enhancing brand reputation, customer loyalty and retention, defending against the onslaught of breaches and hacking incidents, and examining peer-tested strategies and technologies, with proven results for privacy and security.

Additional information

Register for the Online Trust Forum: https://otalliance.org/dc.htmlOnline Trust Leadership Awards: https://otalliance.org/events/2011_Forum/2011Awards.html
Follow the OTA on Twitter: @otalliance

A new bi-partisan bill was released in the U.S. House that expands well beyond the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Aiming to protect the information of those under eighteen, the draft bill seeks to prevent marketers from gathering and storing info on minors without parental consent, in addition to providing parents with a method of removing personal info that’s ‘already out there’.  It’s been described as a giant eraser button to get rid of data ‘when technologically feasible’.

The bill specifies that personal information collected on minors cannot be used or shared with third parties for “targeted marketing purposes”. In addition, it requires companies that collect the info to disclose to consumers what type of personal info is being collected and how it’s being used and shared.

Another part of the bill proposes a “Digital Marketing Bill of Rights for Teens” which would limit data collection including geolocation targeting.  While there are few who would argue against protecting the privacy of minors, one might respectfully question the potential effectiveness or enforceability of this legislation. Here are a few questions that come to mind:

How will marketers prove the age of online users?

It seems simple enough on the surface.  Most lead forms include a ‘Date of Birth’ field already. In this scenario, advertisers could segment the data out based on birth date. However,  I’d venture to guess the average teen/child can get around a check box or a DOB field if they truly want to register or view content. The only way to prevent this is at the user level or browser level on a PC or mobile device. The onus of responsibility is ultimately with parents and how heavily they monitor and restrict their child’s online behavior.

What happens to the data once it is collected?

When a minor appears to register or sign up for an offer, marketers should theoretically refrain from targeting that data or tracking the end user behavior. However, the bill doesn’t state specifics on how to implement this across partnerships.  Email marketers are required to maintain and share suppression files with partners. Data that comes from minors could be automatically suppressed in a similar way.

Of course, storing and sharing PII and user email addresses leaves room for abuse, unless the data is properly hashed or encrypted. Marketers may be able to securely maintain a universal opt-out file containing the encrypted information of minors and scrub their own lists against it. In addition, LashBack suggests seeding partner lists with underage user profiles to ensure compliance.

Would it be sufficient for marketers to add ‘parental permission’ language to an already lengthy privacy policy, or a check box on the lead form?

Arguably, this is the easiest portion of the legislation from an implementation level, as well as an enforcement perspective. It’s also the least effective in terms of real protection.  There have been movements to write privacy policies and terms of service in plain, simple language that end users will understand.

These movements have yet to work because simplifying language leaves room for legal liability. Case in point: the terms of service for Apple iTunes are 56 pages long in an era where few have the attention span to read past Twitter’s 140 characters. Lawyers might read privacy policies. Users don’t.

Can the data be used for targeting on the prospect’s eighteenth birthday?

If marketers maintain do-not-track lists based on age, theoretically,  information gathered would no longer be protected from targeting once the user is eighteen.  At least with email, addresses don’t expire or change based on age. Records would have to expire from a do-not-track list based on DOB.

Does this thing stand any chance of passing?

The bill is still in the discussion phase, as Congress holds hearings on mobile privacy in the coming weeks. Like many legislative attempts to regulate online activity, ‘Do Not Track’ provokes questions, leaves gray areas when it comes to enforcement, and inspires creativity on the part of marketers.

Beginning in 2011, LashBack Inc., formerly LashBack, LLC, has reorganized as a corporation to reflect sole ownership by founder and CEO, Brandon Phillips. LashBack is proud to be a 100% independently owned source of compliance and reputation data to marketers, consumers, and regulatory officials. As part of this change, we’ll be re-branding as LashBack Inc. everywhere you look.  Follow us on Twitter at our new handle, @LashBackInc, to continue to find the latest news and resources to improve your email marketing program.

As LashBack powers forward in 2011, we’re excited to announce new partnerships and integrations with advertising platforms and ground-breaking new technology providers such as Optizmo Technologies and CPA Detective.  Optizmo is a lightning fast suppression file management solution that provides campaign level stats on opt-outs, user complaint feedback, and brand management tools. CPA Detective is a powerful service for detecting and eliminating lead generation fraud, potentially saving advertisers thousands of dollars per month. By partnering with companies that complement LashBack service offerings, we’re taking the leg work out of searching for ways to protect your marketing investments, while minimizing  the workload on your compliance team. Trust us, we’re better together!

Just as cases of brand hijacking, fraud, incentivized offers, and deception in the edu vertical take center stage on the regulatory scene, LashBack has the tools and partnerships to combat and eliminate these issues. The path to sustainability starts here.

Canada’s FISA (the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act) Bill went into law on December 15.  Its new requirements apply to anyone sending Commercial Electronic Messsages  from Canada or to someone in Canada.  FISA will apply to Canadian and international organizations sending email, SMS, instant messaging and social media/networking communication.

The biggest difference between FISA and CAN-SPAM is FISA requires opt-in consent before marketers can send a CEM.  FISA also accepts circumstances of implied consent, including when the sender has an existing business relationship with the recipient.

While CAN-SPAM requires a company postal address, FISA requires address information along with the identity of the person who is sending the email message.  If the email is being sent on someone’s behalf other than the sender, the name of that person needs to be included.

There are similarities between FISA and CAN-SPAM.  They both require easy and clear unsubscribe mechanisms.  The unsubscribe requests must be honored within ten business days.  Both guidelines  say Marketers cannot use address harvesting or dictionary attacks to generate lists.

As the Federal Trade Commission and Commerce Department recently released reports on the best privacy practices, it is important that the government looks at ways to improve international cooperation.  Creating unified privacy and compliance laws across different countries will create more focused marketing messages and an improve internet user experience.

FISA may not go into effect until September 2011.  For more information on FISA along with an excellent guide on how to become compliant with the new law, head over to Return Path.

The Commerce Department released a proposal on Dec. 16 calling for the development of a privacy office within the agency and for enforceable codes of conduct for data companies and advertisers that track Internet user data.

The Commerce Department’s Privacy Policy Office would help in enforcing the codes of conduct.  The report says commercial privacy policy “must be able to evolve rapidly to meet a continuing stream of innovations.  A helpful step would be to enlist the expertise and knowledge of the private sector, and to consult existing best practices, in order to create voluntary codes of conduct that promote informed consent and safeguard personal information.”  The report wants to “…streamline industry compliance, and allow businesses to develop a strong, nationwide data management strategy.”

The report did not endorse or criticize the Federal Trade Commission’s “Do Not Track” report issued earlier this month.  Instead, it seeks further comment on how the agency can “best encourage discussion and development of technologies such as “Do Not Track.” The Commerce Department also wants comments on how the privacy principles should be enforced, whether the FTC should be given authority to issue more detailed rules and whether privacy legislation should include the right for consumers to sue over privacy breaches.

The report also calls for improved international cooperation on privacy.  It says, “The process of trying to comply with the different privacy regimes around the world can be time consuming and costly for U.S. businesses.”

It is great to see government agencies acknowledging the need for an Internet privacy leader that can evolve and enforce privacy policies.  As more social networks allow for more connectedness however, we can only hope the FTC’s and Commerce Department’s plans are not too little too late.

While the suggestions made by the Federal Trade Commission last week are no where close to legislation, they have already impacted one of the most popular web browsers, Internet Explorer.  Microsoft announced on December 7 a feature for Internet Explorer 9 that will let users limit the ability of third party companies to track them online.

The new feature, called Tracking Protection will allow users to create lists of trusted web sites and domains allowed to track their information.  Tracking Protection would then identify and block third parties from collecting and exchanging data through cookies and other tracking mechanisms.  While tracking allows for more personalized, relevant ads, Microsoft is giving consumers a way to block that tracking altogether.

Jon Leibowitz, the FTC chairman was encouraged by Microsoft’s move and said in the NY Times, “Microsoft deserves enormous credit for taking a critical step toward providing consumers with more choice about who can track their online browsing.”

While advertisers will have to rethink their deliverability strategies, privacy experts will have to keep up-to-date Trusted Tracking Protection lists.  Privacy policies are likely to broaden and change, and it is up to Tracking Protection programs and privacy experts to keep their users informed.

This is a step in the right direction and it will be interesting to see how other browsers respond, and if privacy and online advertising can co-exist at all.

The Federal Trade Commission issued a report on December 1 calling for a “Do Not Track” mechanism in consumers’ web browsers so they can choose to have their actions monitored online.   The report, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change” aims to be the first step in achieving a balance between the importance of user privacy and the need for innovative online products and services.   FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said the report “is not a template for enforcement…At this point I think we’re making recommendations for best practices.”  While Privacy advocates are loving the report, the $23 billion online ad industry is not.

Restricting advertisers to track data regarding online searches and other browsing activities could result in an increase of unwanted advertisements and the loss of free content that is paid for by advertising.  Mike Zaneis, Senior Vice President at the Interactive Advertising Bureau said in the  Wall Street Journal article, “Web Privacy ‘Inadequate’” that consumers wouldn’t benefit from turning off tracking because “consumers depend on sharing data… to customize news sites, optimize Web services such as social networks, and provide relevant content and advertising across the Web.”

The report also recommends that companies improve their privacy policies.  Most of these found on the bottom of websites have become far too long and complicated.  Even if consumers do read it, it is not easy to understand or see how it applies to their usage of the website.

A factor that should not be overlooked is consumer education.  While these policies are not legislation yet, the online marketing industry should ensure its consumers are aware of commercial data practices and the choices available to them.

The FTC will accept comments on its proposals through January 31, 2011 and will issue a final version of its report later in 2011.

The US Commerce Department is also planning to release a report containing online privacy recommendations soon.   And it may contain ideas conflicting with what the FTC proposed.  Stay tuned for updates.

Online Privacy and personal data are issues that have affected online businesses for years.  Personal information is now easily accessible due to the popularity of social media and the connectedness of mobile devices.  Big changes may be coming to online regulations as the Obama Administration is forming a subcommittee on Internet and privacy policy, the Democrats have lost proponents of Net Neutrality due to Mid-Term Elections and the Federal Trade Commission and Commerce Department are planning to release new proposals on how strict any new rules should be.

Important questions may or may not get answered in the next couple months: What’s more important? Your Privacy or the Deliverability of your message?  Will the new regulations enhance and protect the user experience or will they promote business and economic expansion?  Online advertisers such as Amazon and Google have argued that the collection of user data helps deliver more relevant ads to the users.  Lawmakers have responded with two House bills that would require Web sites to collect user data only on a voluntary basis.  A balance needs to be met between expectations of privacy and industry needs.

In the next few weeks, both the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department are planning to release reports about online privacy.  Top Commerce officials are in favor of letting the industry regulate itself while the FTC wants to require a “do not track” option on a Web site or browser similar to the “do not call” list.

Privacy regulations are under review in Europe as well.  The EU and US administrations are set to renegotiate rules governing cross-Atlantic data exchanges that would enable citizens of either continent to take legal action in Europe or the US against abuses.

It is an interesting time to be involved in E-mail marketing and online advertising.  Stay tuned to the LashBack Blog for developments on these privacy regulations.

LashBack is very excited to have another great company join us at 555 Washington in Downtown St. Louis.  Unisys Corporation is a global provider of a broad range of information technology services and solutions to commercial businesses and governments worldwide.

Unisys’ new “application modernization center” will serve as the central hub for application development for the company’s federal clients, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Developers at the downtown center are also at work to develop applications for Apple’s Mac, iPhone and iPad.

“When it comes to technology and innovation, Unisys is one of the biggest names in the industry, and its investment in St. Louis is another sign that our economy is on the move,” said Gov. Jay Nixon, who attended Thursday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

So far, Unisys has added 65 of the 300 new, high-tech jobs it plans to add over the next 18 months.

Read More

Building LashBack over the past 5 years I’ve traveled all over the US and Europe.  It’s been exciting to see how technology even over that short period has made travel so much more enjoyable.  Here’s a quick list of my favorite things:

1.  iPhone (www.apple.com) The iPhone is fundamental to nearly everything I use that affects my travel.  It’s how I stay connected with work and access all my favorite applications that keep me in business and entertained.

2.  Tripit.com (www.tripit.com) iPhone Application - Forward hotel, air and ground itineraries to them and it’s automatically uploaded into your calendar and shared with your social networks.  Allows easy recall of ALL your travel plans without fumbling through multiple emails.  I recommend the premium version that gives me change/delay and baggage location details via text.  Amazing!  FREE or PRO version for $49/year.

3.  TabletHotels.com (www.tablehotels.com) – I can’t say enough about this one.  Tablet is an amazingly well organized website to purchase hotel rooms and it feels like it was created just for me.  If you are a “Global Nomad” that wants to see and experience the true culture of a location, Tablet gives you the insider details on where to stay to find that “happening spot,” a “lively” environment, or any other location that is worth considering.  You’ll never book anywhere else.  Frequent travelers should consider the “Tablet Plus” program.  It comes with room upgrades and extra attention in many of my favorite spots for not too much money annually.  Free to use, but the premium “Tablet Plus” version cost $195 annually.

4.  Taxi Magic (www.taximagic.com) iPhone Application – It’s easy to explain this one.  It discovers where you are through GPS and then tells you the local taxi options.  If you take time to create a profile you can have a taxi dispatched for you in most major cities and have it automatically billed to your credit card with one click.  FREE.

5.  Bose Noise Cancelling Headset (www.bose.com) – This piece of hardware does the best job I’ve seen in helping create a tolerable environment while flying.  It reduces ambient noise so you can enjoy that iPhone for games, music, movies and TV shows.  I use the less bulky Quite Comfort 3 Acoustic model, but I might consider the new Quiet Comfort 15 model which is larger and goes around your ears making it even more effective although a bit larger. The cost on the QC3 headset is $349.95.

6.  Netflix Subscription (www.netflix.com) iPhone and iPad Application – Save a fortune on pay-per-view by just using this killer iPhone and iPad application.  Although I could easily watch a few seasons of Family Guy on my iPhone, this service has everything you could want and more including:  On Demand programming and streaming capabilities.  I think Netflix is one of the premier applications for the iPad 3G.  The larger screen makes it more enjoyable and with the 3G service you don’t need to have Wi-Fi to make it stream perfectly.  The monthly service cost is between $7.99 and $15.00/month.

7.  American Express Centurion (Also known as the Black Card)  (www.americanexpress.com) – This is a powerful but expensive travel tool.  Having the black card will get you into nearly any restaurant, event or venue of any sort with little or no notice.  There is an entire book of benefits and special luxury services including airline seat and hotel upgrades as well as event and evening planning.  There is an extraordinarily effective personal concierge service.  You are assigned your own personal contact who you know and knows you.  AMEX is secretive about this card so you won’t find any mention of its existence on the website.  To get into the program you’ll need to run about $250,000/year through your existing business AMEX (or $150,000/year on a personal) account and have that account in perfect standing.  Then you’ll need to call up AMEX proactively and ask to apply for “Centurion”.  If you are approved there’s a $5000 one-time setup fee and the primary card/cardholder also has to pay $2500 up-front and then each year to maintain the service.  Additional cards under the primary cost add an additional $1500/annually/each.  This is clearly a luxury item, but the cost is easily justified.  The time and aggravation saved getting dinner where you want, staying at the hotel you want and getting easy access to your eventswith little or no notice will allow you to more effectively win more business.

If you have any other travel suggestions let me know!

traveltech@lashbackmail.com – Brandon Phillips, CEO of LashBack Inc.