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

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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Blog

Broadening the Definition of Express and Implicit Representation in Children’s Advertising

One way to gauge exactly how far we have come in implementing diversity and inclusion is by analyzing what we see on our screens, particularly in advertising. The Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) recognizes the special vulnerabilities of children with their limited knowledge, experience, sophistication, and maturity and often places itself in children’s shoes to gain insight when assessing the role advertisement has in shaping their perception.
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Blog

Status Update on Transatlantic Data Transfers: Building Bridges Takes Time

As 2020 draws to a close it is a good time to reflect on learnings about the future of authorized transatlantic data transfer mechanisms. In light of Brexit and continuing developments surrounding Schrems II, we discuss what the structure of the current Privacy Shield Framework can teach us much about what future commercial transfer mechanisms are likely to look like, as well as what businesses can do to shore up their compliance efforts.
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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

BBB National Programs’ Privacy Watchdog Brings Public Safety App into Compliance with Ad Privacy Best Practices

McLean, VA – April 7, 2021 – BBB National Programs’ data privacy watchdog, the Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP), released a new data privacy case decision for the public safety app MobilePatrol. Appriss, the publisher of MobilePatrol, worked with DAAP to bring its app into compliance with the Digital Advertising...

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Decision

Two of BBB National Programs’ Self-Regulatory Watchdogs Bring Azerion Gaming Website and App into Compliance with Privacy Best Practices

McLean, VA – March 9, 2021 – Two self-regulatory watchdog units of BBB National Programs, the Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP) and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), today released the result of a new data privacy case for the children’s gaming site Girls Go Games and the...

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Events

Adapting GDPR/CCPA Data Rights Processes for CPRA, CDPA, ABCD, WXYZ and Beyond

BBB National Programs Speaker: Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, Deputy Director, Privacy Initiatives, BBB National Programs
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Apr 29, 2021 Virtual

CARU 2021 Annual Conference

The CARU 2021 Virtual Conference, hosted by BBB National Programs’ Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU), convenes child-directed advertising and children’s privacy experts to help you learn how t ...
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Jun 08, 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