The FTC And DAA Set Their Sights On Cross-Device Tracking

Gone are the days of single-browser tracking. Accordingly, cross-device tracking – the process of tracking a single consumer across all of the consumer's devices – is the new Holy Grail for marketers. Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), a U.S. advertising industry self-regulatory program, have taken notice.

On November 16, 2015, the FTC hosted a workshop to address issues specific to cross-device tracking. That same day, the DAA issued its Application of the Self-Regulatory Principles of Transparency and Control to Data Used Across Devices (DAA Guidance) on how its self-regulatory principles apply to cross-device tracking. Companies that engage in or intend to engage in cross-device tracking should review the workshop transcript and possible comments, as well as the DAA Guidance, in order to better understand how the principles of transparency (consumer notice) and control (consumer choice), as applied to