Privacy Watchdog Brings Sharethrough into Compliance with Digital Advertising Privacy Best Practices

McLean, VA – July 31, 2023 – BBB National Programs’ data privacy watchdog, the Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP), brought Sharethrough, a Montreal-based advertising exchange, into compliance with the Digital Advertising Alliance’s (DAA) Self-Regulatory Principles for online interest-based advertising.

Sharethrough connects marketing campaigns, journalists, and content creators with supply-side advertising platforms in a variety of formats including display, video, and native advertising. DAAP monitors the digital marketplace for compliance with digital interest-based advertising best practices. As part of its ongoing monitoring activity, DAAP conducted a review of Sharethrough’s third-party targeted advertising practices.

Though Sharethrough-provided advertisements identified by DAAP displayed the required DAA Ad Choices icon link per the DAA Principles, clicking on it redirected users to the top of Sharethrough’s privacy policy without clear, meaningful, or prominent indications of where IBA-specific disclosures could be accessed. In addition, the privacy policy’s scattered references to Sharethrough’s IBA practices lacked an easy-to-use IBA opt-out mechanism and a statement of adherence to the DAA Principles.

In response to DAAP’s inquiry, Sharethrough reviewed its practices for compliance with the DAA Principles. To meet its obligations and ensure consumers can easily learn more about how their data is being collected and used by third parties, Sharethrough modified its privacy policy, including:

• Adding a new easy-to-find Section 10, titled “Industry Self-Regulation & Ad Choices,” which includes a statement of adherence to the DAA Principles, a description of the DAA-developed IBA opt-out tool, and a link for users to access the tool.
• Changed the Ad Choices link so that it takes users directly to Section 4, “Why We Collect Your Information.”
• In Section 4, added a description of opt-out choices and a jumplink that takes users directly to the new Section 10.

In its advertiser statement, Sharethrough stated that it is “strongly committed to establishing trust and accountability within the ad tech ecosystem, among our partners, and to users.”

All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of DAAP decisions, visit the DAAP Decisions and Guidance webpage.

About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than a dozen globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, create a fairer playing field for businesses and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.

About the Digital Advertising Accountability Program: The Digital Advertising Accountability Program (DAAP), a division of BBB National Programs, was developed by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) to enforce industry self-regulation principles for data privacy in online and mobile advertising, holding companies accountable to the DAA’s Privacy Principles. DAAP provides guidance to companies looking to comply with industry principles and responds to complaints filed by consumers about online privacy.