ASA to help enforce EU self-regulation of behavioural ads from Feb 2013

The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) – the industry body that writes UK advertising self-regulatory rules, administered and enforced independently by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) – has announced that, from 4 February 2013, it will enforce practices that many businesses (eg ad networks and other ad tech businesses) are implementing across EU and EEA markets to provide greater transparency and consumer control over behavioural advertising.

The full CAP statement is available here. The IAB has produced a short Q&A to help explain how this will all work in practice and how it fits into the EU context. This is available here.

Nick Stringer, director of regulatory affairs at IAB UK, commented:

“The new CAP Code rules for behavioural advertising in the UK will complement existing EU-wide good practice, supported by the UK Government and the European Commission. Together these are an innovation in self-regulation, helping deliver greater transparency and user control, whilst allowing relevant advertising to continue to underpin quality content and services. From February 2013, consumers in the UK will have independent redress via the ASA, backed by a robust pan-European enforcement regime.”