What is the role of a privacy policy on social networking sites? How to improve the readibility of your privacy policy more broadly.

1. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
The role of a privacy policy on
social networks
Samantha Yorke Acting CEO & Director of Regulatory Affairs

2. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Agenda
• Evolving attitudes towards privacy in the social networking
context
• What purpose does a privacy policy serve in this context?
• Opportunities for industry self regulation
• Best practices for enhancing privacy online
• Conclusion

3. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Evolving attitudes…..
• Is privacy dead in age of social sharing?
• Social scientists note a discrepancy between declarations that
people care deeply about privacy and their actions
• Profile pruning on the rise – deleting unwanted friends,
comments and photo tags
• Deletion of social media comments part of reputation
management by young people

4. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Purpose of a privacy policy on social networks?
• Privacy policies are a legal contract between a social network
operator and a user (much like the terms of use)
• They disclose how data will be collected and used on that
website
• They are typically drafted by lawyers 
• Can be rather long and terminology a little complex
• Privacy advocates criticise them as being impenetrable and
claim that nobody reads them…..
• Facebook Site Governance Vote in Dec 2012: 2.7m likes, 668,872 votes
• IAB UK survey of UK Internet users – 29% review privacy policies
• Creative and accessible methods of presenting privacy
policies…….

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Opportunity for industry self-regulation
Tremendous opportunity for industry to proactively step in to do
the following;
o Educate consumers
o Increase transparency around data collection practices
o Demonstrate responsibility
o Create accountability

10. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
I. Personal Information and Third Party OBA
o Third Parties who want to combine OBA Data with Personal
Information must treat the OBA Data as if it is Personal
Information and in accordance with the Privacy Act
II. Providing Clear Information to Users
o Requirement to provide a clear notice to consumers about
which data is collected, how it is collected and what it is used
for.
III. User choice over OBA
o Consumers to be able to make a choice as to whether or not
they consent to the collection of data for OBA and given clear
user-friendly options to manage their Ad choices.
IV. Keeping Data Secure
o Companies must ensure data is stored securely and is only
kept as long as it fulfills a legitimate business need or as
required by law.
V. Careful Handling of Sensitive Segmentation
o OBA categories uniquely designed to target children under 13
will not be created
o Companies seeking to use OBA in relation to Sensitive Market
Segments must obtain explicit consent
VI. Educating Users
o Companies to provide easily accessible, user-friendly
information about OBA.
o A consumer education website providing consumer friendly
non technical information on OBA has been developed by
industry.
VII. Being Accountable
o All businesses are accountable to uphold the principles in the
guideline, develop easily accessible mechanisms for
consumers to lodge complaints directly to companies and
commit to an ongoing review of the Guideline and its
implementation.
7 Principles

11. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited

12. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Best practices for enhancing privacy online
• Be transparent about your data collection and use practices
• Consider navigation and simplification of privacy policies
• Contextual permissioning
• Provide users with choice
• Choice about marketing
• Choice about behavioural advertising
• Consider signing up to online behavioural advertising
guideline

13. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Concluding remarks…..
• Attitudes towards privacy are changing
• Privacy is becoming more top of mind for consumers
• Transparency and choice are key principles
• Promote the benefits and opportunities of new technologies
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
• IAB Honorary Membership

14. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Questions Answers

15. 13 June 2013Privacy Reform and Compliance © 2013 IAB Australia Pty Limited
Thank you.
Samantha Yorke
Acting CEO
Director of Regulatory Affairs
IAB Australia
samantha.yorke@iabaustralia.com.au