Privacy Act update: Consumers could get ‘unqualified’ right to opt-out of targeted advertising
The Australian Attorney General’s Department has released an initial report on the Privacy Act Review, exploring the possibility for consumers to opt out of target adverting, erasing and de-indexing their personal information online, among other proposals.
The 320-page report was informed by submissions, including those from IAB Australia, which highlighted the need for a balance between the privacy protection of consumers and the viability of the digital industry in 2022.
About time. Australian privacy laws are woeful. And let’s be real – for years the industry has peddled low-value rubbish at the expense of both clients and consumers. If it dies, it dies.
Yes, I work in the Programmatic industry and I can’t wait for strict reforms. I’ve had a moral dilemma for years with the invasive data we use. So many in this Industry have made it become normalised. They don’t see the issue and they can’t see life beyond it. Marketing and advertising existed quite fine before the internet and Europe with GDPR is doing just fine. Of course interested parties (powerful parties) will lobby to weaken these proposals using their most expensive lobbyists and lawyers. Let’s hope the government sees through it. These reforms will also remove the option for lazy marketers to just brief highly specific audiences and they will need to go back to marketing fundamentals (when advertising was more intelligent and thought through).