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.

 

Together our programs drive the adoption of unified privacy practices, facilitate consumer education and choice, and offer consumers accessible, no-cost privacy dispute resolution. Looking to the future, where new regulations and technologies bring new privacy challenges, BBB National Programs brings together stakeholders to craft enforceable and fair mechanisms that protect consumers in the marketplace, and enable responsible businesses to compete on trust and accountability. 

 

To learn more about our work—and to join in the effort—please check out the programs, initiatives, and resources below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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, bridging gaps between divergent privacy and data protection regimes. 

 

Thought Leadership 

Blog

Breaking Down Privacy Certification Options – Why, What, Who

In today’s data-driven economy, good privacy practices are inextricable from good business. Everyone is taking a closer look at how personal information is collected and used these days. Consumers and employees are more informed about how to protect the privacy of their data. Regulators are raising the temperature, armed with updated rules. And businesses are requiring much more than general assurances that their contracting parties will handle data with care. Know the why, the what, and the who of privacy certifications.
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Blog

Best Practices in Global Data Privacy

Privacy has become a very public matter. The issue of properly managing personal data is not only big in the U.S.; it is increasingly important around the world. Even though global privacy regulations are actively shifting, maintaining a robust privacy program with independent indicators will go a long way toward minimizing the scrutiny of consumers and government agencies.
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Blog

A Beginner's Guide to Reading Privacy Policies

Privacy policies are complicated and can be frustrating to read, especially when you are trying to learn about your child's data privacy online. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) reviews child-directed online environments to ensure that children’s data is collected and handled responsibly. As a parent, follow these steps to take a proactive role in your child’s data privacy, using privacy policies as your guide to better understand an online service’s data collection practices.
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Blog

In 2021, Consumer And Stakeholder Privacy Is About Defining Trust

As business and nonprofit leaders navigate the Fourth Industrial Revolution, consumer and stakeholder privacy has become a matter of defining trust. As new digital services and connected devices fueled by personal data flourish, consumers’ reasonable expectation of privacy shifts. If expectations do not match reality, it can lead to gaps in trust and new paths for litigation and regulatory enforcement. In this piece I outline a few 2021 privacy developments business and nonprofit leaders should note.
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Podcast

The Perfect Storm for Privacy and Adtech: How the End of the Cookie Era Will Reshape the Digital Marketplace

Many privacy professionals see the depletion of third-party cookies, paired with several technological, political, and cultural factors, as the perfect storm for privacy and adtech – one that will bring about fundamental changes to the advertising industry and the broader digital marketplace. In this episode,...

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Podcast

Why Teens Need Unique Privacy Protections

Teens are at risk online now more than ever, and the amount of their personal data being collected is vast. Tune in to our latest podcast to hear our experts discuss the key findings from their latest whitepaper on teenage privacy in the mobile app marketplace and the privacy implications of in-app purchases and interest-based advertising (IBA).
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Latest Announcements

Press Release

BBB National Programs Adds FTC Veteran Mamie Kresses as Vice President, Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU)

McLean, VA – April 12, 2021 – BBB National Programs, the independent non-profit organization that oversees more than a dozen industry self-regulation and dispute resolution programs, today announced the hire of FTC veteran Mamie Kresses as Vice President, Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU). Kresses moves from the...

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Press Release

BBB National Programs Receives APEC Approval as First U.S. Non-Profit Accountability Agent and Launches Global Privacy Division

McLean, VA – January 26, 2021 – Building upon its longstanding privacy protection work in Europe, BBB National Programs today announced its approval by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as the first U.S.-based non-profit Accountability Agent in the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) and Privacy...

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Decision

Children’s Advertising Review Unit Recommends IMC Toys Include “Non-Edible” Disclosure in Cry Babies Magic Tears Tutti Frutti Doll Advertisement

New York, NY – May 27, 2021 – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) recommended that IMC Toys USA Inc. modify its television advertisement promoting the Cry Babies Magic Tears Tutti Frutti doll to include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that children should not consume the jell-like...

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Decision

Children’s Advertising Review Unit Determines Development Platform Unity Did Not Have Actual Knowledge of Ad SDK Data Collection in Child-Directed Apps

McLean, VA – April 28, 2021 – The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), a division of BBB National Programs, determined that Unity Technologies did not have actual knowledge, as defined by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and CARU’s Guidelines for Online Privacy...

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Events

Baker Hostetler's Everywhere Commerce: Top Strategies for Mitigating Risk

BBB National Programs' Speakers: Dona Fraser, Senior Vice President, Privacy Initiatives, Mary Engle, Executive Vice President, Policy, and Katherine Armstrong, Deputy Director, National Advertising D ...
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Jun 16, 2021 Virtual

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) PrivacyCon

BBB National Programs Speaker: Cameryn Gonnella, Compliance Manager, Children’s Advertising Review Unit
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Jul 27, 2021 Virtual

Kidvertising 101

Kidvertising 101 is a one-day workshop providing attendees with hands-on education. This year the event is dedicated to the new Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) Advertising Guidelines, recent ...
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Oct 13, 2021 Virtual

SAVE THE DATE: PrivacyCollective 2021

Save the date for this year’s PrivacyCollective, where the theme is Privacy: Under New Management. PrivacyCollective is a community of privacy experts who discuss novel topics in the evolving privacy ...
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Dec 01, 2021 Virtual