The American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) has named John Montgomery, COO of GroupM Interaction, the chairman of a newly created committee that will address Internet privacy issues.
The Privacy Committee was formed earlier this month by the 4A's as an offshoot of the established Media Policy Committee, where Montgomery is already a member. The committee's focuses include managing consumer education and communication around privacy and internet advertising, with one topic covering privacy legislation that lawmakers claim will protect the collection of personal information for use in marketing.
Montgomery is known in the industry as an expert in relation to internet privacy. One of his platforms in association with the 4A's is the use of an icon to inform users that data is being collected about the internet usage.
"John is a recognized expert in the privacy arena and was the perfect choice to act as chairman of our new committee," said 4A's President/CEO Nancy Hill. "The internet privacy issue is of vital importance to our membership and their clients, and I expect the committee to vigorously address their needs as it moves forward."
"We strongly support online privacy but we need to regain a balance in the communication to internet users. We must help consumers understand the benefit of a largely free, advertising supported internet and the data that we collect to support behavioral targeting," Montgomery said.
The committee represents the largest media agencies in the industry including MPG, Universal McCann, MediaVest, Digitas, Horizon, PHD, Omnicom Media Group, VivaKi and GroupM agency Mindshare.
