Understanding your consumers so you can reach them with the right offers, on the right device, at the right time is a familiar mandate for many modern companies. These data are collected online, in mobile apps, in social media, and across devices, from PCs, to tablets, to smartphones, to even TVs. Most brands use these data in some way, often together with third-party data, such as to personalize messages and content, to optimize their sites or apps, or to improve their products, services, and offerings. Brands may choose from hundreds of vendors to assist them in these efforts. The data collected are often just anonymous unique identifiers and segments of potential interest, although in some cases the information is personally-identifiable or at least capable of being tied back to a consumer. However, with all of this advancement and revenue at hand, brands and their vendors are operating in a rapidly-changing area that continues to lack regulatory certainty in the U.S. and around the world. The FTC has proposed best practices, but sued those that have stepped over the line; state attorneys general done the same, Congress, the press (including bloggers and academics) have called out companies for data uses that they may not have considered to be improper, and the self-regulatory sector continues to innovate; standards bodies are tackling cutting-edge issues such as how to handle cookieless tracking and cross-device display; class action lawyers are as active as they have been in over a decade years, and becoming more creative all the time; and regulators around the world are looking to apply new standards to traditional tools like cookies and web beacons.
Please join this event as practitioners and industry leaders explore the cutting-edge legal concerns in online tracking and targeting. What are the regulators around the world calling for? How is the market reacting? What are common practices and what are outliers? What are class action lawyers looking for? What kinds of issues interest Congress and the press, including bloggers and academics? And, by the way, how does all of this work? Ultimately, how can companies protect their brands while taking advantage of some of the most innovative tools available? How can brands adopt new business models that emerge like dandelions and promise more revenue and better consumer engagement?
WilmerHale Partner Reed Freeman will be acting as the program's chair and will participate on the panel "Regulatory Developments in the US, EU and Asia," and Partner Noah Levine will participate on the panel "Class Action Status."
