The ability of advertising-backed online publishers to provide free content and services could be severely restricted by proprosal in the Privacy Act Review Report from the Attorney General's Department, according to the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, said the proposals for digital advertising, targeting and trading are too broadly scoped and inconsistent with international approaches.
“Data is at the heart of IAB members’ businesses and key to the relationship they have with consumers," said Le Roy.
"We strongly support a modernised privacy framework that is fit for purpose and meets consumers’ expectations – both in terms of protecting their privacy, as well as enabling them to engage in the digital economy. These goals are not mutually exclusive."
Other industry groups are concerned about the proposed changes to privacy laws. The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) defended the use of targeted advertising, highlighting concerns over potential wide-sweeping proposals by the federal government.
According to PwC’s analysis, the average Australian consumer is willing to pay $544 a yearto access currently free-ad-supported digital services and content. Ad-supported online content and services are most important to lower income consumers.
For consumers on annual incomes below $50,000, the value they attribute to content and services that are currently free was roughly double that of consumers with annual incomes over $80,000.
The IAB's submission highlights the industry support for a modernised privacy framework that is fit for purpose and meets consumers’ expectations, in terms of protecting privacy, and allowing them to engage in the digital economy.
The main concern of the IAB in response to the report is regarding the proposals that relate to advertising, targeting and trading.
Le Roy belives the reforms should provide businesses with further clarity that the low-risk operational activities that fall within consumers’ expectations are not unnecessarily restricted.
"These activities should at a minimum include data processing (including data segmentation), measurement, analytics, and research," she said.
According to IAB Australia, the digital advertising ecosystem provides significant value to consumers, the economy and society in general.
“The digital advertising industry understands the importance of ensuring sufficient protections are in place to protect consumers’ personal information," said Le Roy.
"However, we want to work with Government to ensure that the reforms don’t go too far and put the significant value that consumers receive from our industry at risk."
In 2022, the IAB also raised concerns about proposed changes to privacy laws, saying they could stifle innovation and disadvantage Australian businesses.
Proposed changes include broadening the definition of “personal information” and increasing the prominence of personal information collection notices.
In its submission to the government’s Privacy Act Review Discussion Paper, the industry body said the proposals would “detrimentally impact on the industry’s ability to function effectively."
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