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Event Description

Consumers enjoy recommendations based on their television viewing habits (“viewers who watched Mr. Robot… may enjoy Fight Club”), but who else knows what you’re watching? The golden age of television has arrived with the golden age of television tracking. In 2016, virtually all television delivery systems – smart TVs, streaming devices, game consoles, apps, and even old-fashioned set top boxes – track consumers’ viewing habits, and sometimes in new and unexpected ways. Television and streaming device manufacturers, software developers, and the advertising industry are collaborating to learn more about what consumers are watching. These collaborations are allowing advertisers to precisely target consumers and better understand what ads are working. Consumers may even find advertisements based on their television viewing habits appearing on their phones and desktop browsers. The Smart TV workshop will explore the following questions:

  • What are the roles of hardware manufacturers and software developers in creating tracking technologies?
  • What do consumers understand about how their entertainment preferences are being tracked, disclosed, and used for various purposes?
  • How are entertainment preferences being linked to individuals or to individuals’ device graphs?
  • How is the advertising industry using this information?
  • What are some best practices for addressing consumer privacy on entertainment systems?

Contact

If you have questions about the workshop, please email smarttv@ftc.gov or contact Kevin Moriarty at (202) 326-2949.

  • 12:00 pm

    Registration

    1:00 pm

    Introductory Remarks

    Kevin Moriarty
    Attorney, Division of Privacy and Identity Protection, Federal Trade Commission


    Opening Remarks

    Jessica Rich
    Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission

    1:15 pm

    Overview of the Smart TV Ecosystem

    Justin Brookman
    Policy Director, Office of Technology Research and Investigation, Federal Trade Commission

    1:40 pm

    Panel 1: New Frontiers in Media Measurement and Targeting

    This panel will explore new data analytics and ad targeting technologies that are evolving in the Smart TV world. Discussion topics will include new measurement capabilities available in the Smart TV ecosystem, how are companies leveraging Smart TVs to target consumers across devices, and how companies and self-regulatory organizations are addressing the challenges of providing consumers with transparency and choice.

    Moderator:
    Kevin Moriarty

    Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:

    • Jane Clarke
      CEO, Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement
    • Josh Chasin
      Chief Research Officer, comScore
    • Shaq Katikala
      Counsel and Assistant Director of Technology and Data Science, Network Advertising Initiative
    • Ashwin Navin
      Chief Executive Officer, Samba TV
    • Mark Risis
      Former Head of Strategy & Business Development, Tivo Research

    2:55 pm

    Break

    3:15 pm

    Panel 2: Consumer Understanding and Regulatory Framework

    This panel will consider what consumers understand about the new world of smart entertainment, advertising, and analytics, and how consumer data may be protected. Discussion topics will include what consumer information is being collected and shared, how consumers can become more informed about these practices, and what legal protections or regulatory structures are relevant to the use and sharing of this data.

    Moderator:
    Megan Cox
    Federal Trade Commission

    Panelists:
    • Maria Rerecich
      Director, Electronics Testing Team, Consumer Reports
    • Emmett O’Keefe
      Senior Vice President of Advocacy, Data & Marketing Association
    • Claire Gartland
      Consumer Protection Counsel and Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
    • Dallas Harris
      Policy Fellow, Public Knowledge
    • Serge Egelman
      Berkeley Laboratory for Usable and Experimental Security, University of California, Berkeley

    4:30 pm

    End

     

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    Presentation

    Justin Brookman is Policy Director of the FTC’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation (OTECH). OTECH’s mission is to generate new research into consumer protection issues involving emerging technologies, and to help investigate potential cases into deceptive or unfair behavior. Prior to joining the FTC, Mr. Brookman was Director of Consumer Privacy at the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), a digital rights advocacy organization. Mr. Brookman also previously served as Chief of the Internet Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s office, where he brought consumer protection actions on a wide range of issues, including privacy, free speech, data security, and net neutrality.

    Ian Klein is a graduate student pursuing an MS in Computer Science at Stevens Institute of Technology, from which he also received his undergraduate degree in Cybersecurity. He is a CyberCorps Scholarship for Service recipient. At Stevens, Mr. Klein has performed extensive research on projects ranging from web privacy to state-of-the-art privacy-preserving protocols. He interned with the FTC’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation in the summer of 2016. At the FTC, Mr. Klein studied the privacy of smart TVs.

    Panel 1

    Josh Chasin is the Chief Research Officer of comScore. Mr. Chasin is a 36-year market research and audience measurement veteran who has experience in all facets of design, development, and implementation of syndicated and custom research. Prior to joining comScore in May 2007, he owned and operated a media research consultancy, Warp Speed Marketing, whose clients included Arbitron, Scarborough, comScore, Simmons, the Online Publishers Association, the Traffic Audit Bureau, and Project Apollo. Mr. Chasin spent 17 years at Arbitron, where he worked in the Statistical Services department and the Advertiser/Agency group before rising to Vice President of Marketing for New Ventures in 1993. He is a past president/CEO of the Simmons Market Research Bureau and of Northstar Interactive, a pioneering online research company. Mr. Chasin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from NYU, and an MBA Cum Laude in Marketing Management from Pace University.

    Jane Clarke is the CEO and Managing Director of the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM). She is responsible for developing CIMM’s strategy and vision and overseeing all day-to-day operations. CIMM is an R&D coalition of leading video-based content providers (all the broadcast and cable network groups), media buying agencies, and large advertisers formed to spur innovation in both TV and cross-platform measurement. Prior to CIMM, Ms. Clarke had over 30 years’ experience in the media industry, collecting and analyzing strategic insights into global consumers for Time Warner, Sesame Workshop and National Geographic. Most recently, she was Vice President of Insights and Innovation at Time Warner Global Media Group, where her work contributed to marketing solutions across television, online, mobile and print. Ms. Clarke is on the Board of the Advertising Research Foundation and I-COM. She was a B&C Digital All-Star in 2014 and received a Leadership Award from ITVT in 2016.

    Shaq Katikala is Counsel and Assistant Director of Technology & Data Science at the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI). He leads NAI’s working group on Smart and Addressable TVs, an initiative to create guidance on privacy issues relating to the third-party digital advertising ecosystem. Mr. Katikala conducts regular privacy assessments of NAI member companies and creates software to automatically detect potential compliance issues. In addition to a BA in Economics/Philosophy and a JD, Mr. Katikala studied data science at Stanford and is one of IAPP’s first Fellows of Information Privacy.

    Ashwin Navin is CEO and co-founder of Samba TV, a data and analytics service that measures television viewership using data from Internet-connected devices. Prior to Samba TV, Mr. Navin was the President, COO and co-founder of BitTorrent, Inc. Before BitTorrent, he was employed at Yahoo! in its Corporate Development Group, which handled corporate strategy and acquisitions. Before Yahoo!, he worked on Wall Street as an investment banker and research analyst. Mr. Navin is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College with a dual BA in Government and Economics.

    Mark Risis was the Head of Strategy and Business Development for TiVo Research until November 2016. At TiVo Research, he helped build models to improve how TV advertising is planned, bought, sold, and measured across screens. Mr. Risis led the division’s foray into Programmatic TV and struck dozens of partnerships with leading supply and demand players across the media ecosystem. Prior to his involvement with TiVo’s data division, Mr. Risis led strategy and drove sales for TiVo’s interactive TV advertising platform. Prior to TiVo, he founded and led a digital creative agency. He started his career at FutureBrand in brand strategy and valuation. Mr. Risis graduated with honors from Duke University.

    Panel 2

    Serge Egelman is the Research Director of the Usable Security & Privacy Group at the International Computer Science Institute and leads the Berkeley Laboratory for Usable and Experimental Security at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Egelman’s research focuses on the intersection of privacy, computer security, and human behavior, with the specific aims of better understanding how people make decisions surrounding their privacy and security and creating data-driven improvements to systems and interfaces. His work has received multiple best paper awards, including multiple ACM CHI Honorable Mentions, the 2012 Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security Distinguished Paper Award for his work on smartphone application permissions, and the 2012 Information Systems Research Best Published Paper Award for his work on consumers’ willingness to pay for online privacy. He received his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and prior to that was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

    Claire Gartland is Director of the Consumer Privacy Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). EPIC is a public interest research center focused on protecting privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic values in the information age. The EPIC Consumer Privacy Project advocates for the rights of consumers and internet users, and works to protect consumers’ personal information and autonomy in the digital marketplace. EPIC promotes the implementation and enforcement of Fair Information Practices, and the enactment of the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. Ms. Gartland has written over 20 comments to federal agencies on consumer privacy matters, and contributes to EPIC’s amicus advocacy with federal and state appellate courts considering emerging privacy and civil liberties issues. Prior to joining EPIC, Ms. Gartland worked as a staff attorney at a Baltimore-based cyberlaw practice group, where she represented victims of revenge porn and online harassment in civil litigation.

    Dallas Harris is a Policy Fellow at Public Knowledge, where she focuses on Lifeline modernization, technology transition, and privacy issues. Prior to joining Public Knowledge, Ms. Harris was a law clerk at Utrecht, Kleinfeld, Fiori, Partners, and interned with Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, DC City Councilmember Mary Cheh, and the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. In her last year of law school, she spent a semester as a Policy Extern at Facebook. Ms. Harris received her law degree from The George Washington University Law School.

    Emmett O’Keefe is DMA’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy, where he heads the Washington, DC office and leads DMA’s advocacy efforts at both the state and federal levels. Mr. O’Keefe has more than 20 years of experience working on policy matters and developing advocacy strategies to advance legislative and regulatory priorities. Before joining DMA, he worked at Cablevision, where he led federal lobbying efforts, and Amazon, where he developed policy positions and represented the company before policymakers. He also spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill as a senior legislative aide to members of the House and Senate Commerce Committees. Mr. O’Keefe holds a BA in English and Political Science from Marquette University and a JD from the Howard University School of Law.

    Maria Rerecich is the Director of Electronics Testing at Consumer Reports (CR). In this role since 2013, she leads a team of engineers and technicians in evaluating and rating consumer electronics products such as TVs, smartphones, and personal computers. Ms. Rerecich is involved in CR’s initiatives to tackle privacy, security, and data issues, focusing in particular on testing Internet of Things devices. Most recently, she led a pilot test of several mobile applications, resulting in an app developer making immediate improvements to protect consumers’ data and privacy. Prior to joining CR, she worked for Standard Microsystems Corporation in the semiconductor industry for 29 years and was responsible for integrated circuit design, validation, and product engineering of silicon chips used in PCs. Ms. Rerecich holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT.

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