The National Advertising Initiative: Oversight of NAI is a Failure
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Oversight of the NAI has been neglected. As a result, there are many things the public simply does not know about the program, in particular, its effectiveness. To date, the public does not know how many consumers participate in the program. The public does not have numbers comparing consumers who have visited opt-out pages with consumers who have successfully opted out. How many consumers actually have opt-out cookies, and for how long? Where are the reports on whether or not it is effective for those who do opt-out? Are NAI members actually complying with the obligations?
The scant information available from the TRUSTe watchdog reports indicated a steady history of consumer complaints about the NAI, at least until the information was suppressed altogether. Which companies and/or sites received complaints? What happened? These are the kinds of questions a solid oversight program would answer.
What consumers are left with are many more questions than answers and information, and this is a hardly a hallmark of an effective, thorough oversight program.
Roadmap: The National Advertising Initiative – Failing at Consumer Protection and at Self-Regulation: Part II: Discussion – Oversight of NAI is a Failure