New text Issue 25: Aggregated data: collection and use for audience measurement research

Here is a revised text for Issue 25 redrafted to take into account various
comments on the previous draft.


Normative:
 
Information may be collected, retained and used by a third party for
audience measurement research where the information is used to calibrate or
otherwise support data collected from opted-in panels, which in part
contains information collected across sites and over time from user agents.
 
A third party eligible for an audience measurement research permitted use
MUST adhere to the following restrictions. The data collected by the third
party:
 
€    Must be pseudonymised, and
€    Must not be shared with any other party unless the data are
de-identified prior to sharing, and
€    Must be deleted or de-identified as early as possible after the purpose
of collection is met and in no case shall such retention, prior to
de-identification, exceed 53 weeks and
€    Must not be used for any other independent purpose.
 
€    In addition, the third party must be subject to an independent
certification process under the oversight of a generally-accepted market
research industry organization that maintains a web platform providing user
information about audience measurement research. This web platform lists the
parties eligible to collect information under DNT standards and the audience
measurement research permitted use and it provides users with an opportunity
to exclude their data contribution.
 
 
Non-normative: collection and use for audience measurement research
 
Audience measurement research creates statistical measures of the reach in
relation to the total online population, and frequency of exposure of the
content to the online audience, including paid components of web pages.
 
Audience measurement research for DNT purposes originates with opt-in panel
output that is calibrated by counting actual hits on tagged content on
websites. The panel output is re-adjusted using data collected from a
broader online audience in order to ensure data produced from the panel
accurately represents the whole online audience.
 
This online data is collected on a first party and third party basis. This
collection tracks the content rather than involving the collection of a
user¹s browser history.
 
The collected data is retained for a given period for purposes of sample
quality control, and auditing.  During this retention period contractual
measures must be in place to limit access to, and protect the data, as well
as restrict the data from other uses. This retention period is set by
auditing bodies, after which the data must be de-identified.
 
The purposes of audience measurement research must be limited to:
 
·    Facilitating online media valuation, planning and buying via accurate
and reliable audience measurement.
·    Optimizing content and placement on an individual site.
 
Audience measurement data must be reported as aggregated information such
that no recipient is able to build commercial profiles about particular
individuals or devices.

 Kathy Joe,
Director, International Standards and Public Affairs
Eurocenter 2, 11th floor
Barbara Strozzilaan 384
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 664 2141
Fax: +31 20 589 7885
www.esomar.org <http://www.esomar.org/>