June Draft - Change Proposal to definition of "Party"

The current definition of "Party" includes the following language:

Current - "For unique corporate entities to qualify as a common party with respect to this document, those entities MUST be commonly owned and commonly controlled and MUST provide easy discoverability of affiliate organizations. A list of affiliates MUST be available through a single user interaction from each page, for example, by following a single link, or through a single click."

I am concerned that the last sentence in particular might actually decrease transparency of affiliates.  Most of our members today disclose affiliates and their data sharing practices in a long form privacy policy.  A simple list of affiliates, as this language envisions, would provide no context about what data is shared or how that data is used or even what restrictions are put in place.  Also, providing a link on every page may not always be practical or even necessary for consumer education purposes.  Further, many consumers might be more familiar with the other brands under the corporate umbrella (as opposed to the corporate names).  In addition, this language would not allow corporations to use common branding to educate consumers about affiliates, which is arguably more transparent and which was advocated by the FTC in their March 2012 report.  For these reasons, I propose the following language (new language in bold):

Proposed - "For unique corporate entities to qualify as a common party with respect to this document, those entities MUST be commonly owned and commonly controlled and MUST provide easy discoverability of affiliate organizations.  Parties MUST provide transparency about what affiliates are considered part of the same party.  Examples of ways to provide this transparency are through common branding or by disclosing affiliates and affiliate data sharing practices in a long form privacy policy."


Chris Pedigo
VP, Government Affairs
Online Publishers Association
(202) 744-2967