IAB Prepares To Take Larger Role In Litigation, Lobbying Efforts

Positioning itself to take a more active role in litigation that could have an impact on online advertisers, the IAB said on Friday that it has elevated Mike Zaneis to senior vice president, general counsel, from his previous position as vice president of public policy.

In his new role, Zaneis, along with Alison Pepper, director of public policy, will deal with routine legal matters -- like reviewing contracts for IAB events -- in addition to lobbying duties. By taking business matters in-house, the IAB will be able to shift resources to matters like filing friend-of-the-court briefs in online privacy cases, or in challenges to laws that restrict advertisers, Zaneis says.

"There are cases that could have broader implications for the industry, where we may want to weigh in," he says. For instance, Zaneis says, the IAB might consider getting involved in litigation about the use of cookies and Flash cookies to track people online. "We wouldn't want a bad precedent set in any one case," he says.

Zaneis also says the IAB aims to broaden its lobbying and regulatory operations. "We'll look to expand in the coming year," he says. "Certainly we're going to continue to devote resources to public policy. The challenges there are only increasing."

The IAB's move comes amid a flurry of new privacy lawsuits against companies involved in online advertising. In the most recent case, filed this week, a New York resident alleged that the behavioral targeting network Interclick violated federal computer fraud laws and wiretap laws by using "history sniffing" technology to determine what other sites she had visited, and also using Flash cookies to recreate deleted HTP cookies.

In addition, Congress is considering legislation that could affect how online ad networks track Web users, the Commerce Department is expected to propose baseline privacy laws, and the Federal Trade Commission recently recommended that online ad companies implement a universal do-not-track mechanism.

In addition to promoting Zaneis, the IAB also said on Friday that it elevated Patrick Dolan to chief operating officer and David Doty to chief marketing officer.

By Wendy Davis

Lawsuit Alleges Interclick 'History Sniffing' Violates Fed Computer Fraud And Wiretap Laws

A New York resident sued behavioral targeting network Interclick for allegedly using Flash cookies and history-sniffing techniques to thwart her attempts to prevent online tracking.

"Interclick invaded Plaintiff's privacy, misappropriated her personal information, and interfered with the operability of her computer," Sonal Bose alleges in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in New York on Wednesday. Bose alleges that Interclick violated federal computer fraud laws as well as wiretap laws. She is seeking class-action status.

Her lawsuit -- the latest in a series of recent court cases alleging privacy violations -- comes one week after Federal Trade Commission consumer protection head David Vladeck criticized ad networks for "history sniffing" by exploiting a vulnerability in browsers to discover the Web sites users previously visited.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego recently brought the history-sniffing technique to light when they published a paper explaining the technique and naming 46 Web sites where history-sniffing technology was being deployed. In at least some cases, ad company Interclick reportedly used the technology without the publishers' knowledge. Late last week, two other Web users brought the first history-sniffing lawsuit -- a case against YouPorn.

Bose says in her complaint that she believes she was subject to history-sniffing by Interclick based on reports about Interclick's activities, its role as "a major online ad network," and the existence on her computer of an Interclick.com Flash cookie.

Bose also alleges that Interclick "monitored her web browsing in ways she would not expect or detect" by recreating HTTP cookies with Flash cookies -- which are stored in a different place in the browser, and therefore, require additional effort to control. Interclick did so in order to "track, profile, and serve targeted advertisements to consumers without being subject to the controls consumers reasonably expected to have over such third-party interactions on the Internet," she alleges.

Measurement company Quantcast and widget maker Clearspring recently agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle two class-action lawsuits alleging that they violated people's online privacy by using Flash cookies for tracking.

The use of Flash cookies to track users who delete HTTP cookies appears to date to 2005, when ad technology company United Virtualities publicly said it could track Web users through a "pie," or persistent identification element," that would remain on people's computers regardless of whether they shed HTTP cookies.

But the technique didn't draw much public notice until last year, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and other schools published a report outlining the practice. Shortly afterward, some Federal Trade Commission officials said they were concerned about the use of Flash for tracking purposes.

Bose's lawyers include Dallas-based lawyer Joseph Malley and New York-based attorney Scott Kamber, both of whom have filed other high-profile privacy lawsuits against a variety of Web companies.

By Wendy Davis