Privacy Initiatives

Advancing privacy best practices and operating independent, third-party accountability programs to help businesses and consumers navigate the digital marketplace


Businesses that collect personal information understand the critical need to comply with privacy and data protection laws. But from small startups to global enterprises, some businesses choose to do more: leading the way by demonstrating their embrace of privacy standards and best practices that set the tone for their industry.

 

BBB National Programs works with individual companies, industry groups, and regulators to develop, monitor, and enforce robust privacy standards. Our trusted privacy programs deliver independent accountability for privacy promises, whether built on self-regulatory principles or legal requirements, tailored to respond to the unique privacy challenges presented by specific data types, like children’s data, or use cases, such as emerging technologies and cross-border transfers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Privacy Division

Through BBB National Programs’ Global Privacy Division, businesses show their partners and customers that they put privacy first, no matter where they operate. Our programs serve as key elements of frameworks like the Cross-Border Privacy Rules and Privacy Shield (soon to be the Data Privacy Framework), bridging gaps between divergent privacy and data protection regimes.

 

 

Thought Leadership

The Privacy Initiatives team works with businesses to drive the adoption of unified privacy practices, facilitate consumer education and choice, and offer consumers accessible, no-cost privacy dispute resolution. We understand how to craft enforceable and fair mechanisms that protect consumers in the marketplace, and enable responsible businesses to compete on trust and accountability. 

 

Blog

A Not-So-Sweet Sixteen? Teen Online Privacy and Safety Faces New Policy Dilemmas

Pop culture powerhouse Barbie teaches us that corporations can have a long-lasting impact on children and teens, and the FTC seems to agree, adopting an aggressive stance on children’s and teen privacy in the last few months. We break down what this means for companies in looking to engage a child or teen audience.
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Blog

Spilling the Tea on AI Accountability: An Analysis of NTIA Stakeholder Comments

The NTIA recently issued a request for comment to gather stakeholder feedback on AI accountability measures and policies to assist in the crafting of a report on AI accountability policy and the AI assurance regime. Nearly 200 organizations responded and we pulled a diverse, representative sample of the responses to summarize stakeholder feedback on this important question.
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Blog

A Privacy Review a Day, Keeps the Regulators Away

The FTC and HHS sent a warning letter to nearly 130 hospitals and health systems cautioning them about their data privacy and security practices. Notably, these are entities that comply with HIPAA. Aren’t companies in compliance with HIPAA already covering their consumer data privacy bases? Not completely.
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Blog

Creating a Uniform Approach to AI Accountability

The NTIA’s recent request for comment focuses on a lesser documented angle in the public discourse: the role of soft law mechanisms to supplement the enforcement objectives of federal agencies. These accountability mechanisms – including compliance certifications, audits, and third-party verification practices – can serve as a policy solution to further the goals of the White House’s national strategy on AI.
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Podcast

The Government Purchase of Private Data

In this episode of Privacy Abbreviated, professor Matthew Tokson joins our hosts to discuss how the collection and sale of private data may help government agencies circumvent legal requirements.

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    Podcast

    Filling Privacy Gaps with Soft Law Solutions

    In this episode of Privacy Abbreviated, our hosts are joined by the Future of Privacy Forum’s Jameson Spivack to discuss how industry-developed standards and best practices can guide policymaking allowing hard law to adopt the lessons learned from soft law.

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      Latest Announcements

      Press Release

      BBB National Programs’ Statement on Adoption of Adequacy for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

      McLean, VA – July 11, 2023 – Dona Fraser, BBB National Programs’ Senior Vice President, Privacy Initiatives, issued a statement on behalf of BBB National Programs today on the European Commission’s official adoption of its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-US DPF).

      Read the Press Release
      Press Release

      BBB National Programs’ Statement on Executive Order to Implement the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework

      McLean, VA – October 07, 2022 – Dona Fraser, BBB National Programs’ Senior Vice President, Privacy Initiatives, issued the following statement today on the Biden Administration’s Executive Order to implement U.S. commitments under the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

      Read the Statement
      Decision

      Privacy Watchdog Brings Temu into Compliance with Digital Advertising Privacy Best Practices

      McLean, VA – August 29, 2023 - The Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP) brought WhaleCo into compliance with the DAA Principles. Since beginning U.S. operations in September 2022, Shanghai-based WhaleCo’s mobile application, Temu, has quickly risen to become one of the top downloaded free apps. 

      Read the Decision Summary
      Decision

      Privacy Watchdog Brings Sharethrough into Compliance with Digital Advertising Privacy Best Practices

      McLean, VA – July 31, 2023 - The Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP) brought Sharethrough, a Montreal-based advertising exchange, into compliance with the DAA Self-Regulatory Principles for online interest-based advertising.

      Read the Decision Summary

       

       

      Events

      IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk. 2023

      New Kids on the Block: Navigating the Newest Consumer Group in Privacy (Teens)
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      Oct 03, 2023 San Diego, CA