A couple weeks ago, the Web Analytics Association announced a new code of ethics for the web analytics community to promote adherence to protocols that safeguard the privacy of web users. The code outlines five guiding principles for web analytics professionals: Privacy, Transparency, Consumer Control, Education and Accountability.
This new code of ethics asks web analytics professionals to take the pledge and personally agree to adhere to the practices outlines – independent of their employer’s endorsement. We at Comscore were glad to participate in the crafting of the final language of the document and would like to express our wholehearted support of it. We encourage other companies in our industry to do the same.
At a substantive level, the code of ethics will help ensure transparency to consumers in how their digital behavior is being measured, while protecting their personally identifiable information. This sort of transparency is essential to enhancing trust between business and consumer by ensuring responsible use of analytics while working to allay consumer privacy concerns. It is essential for our industry to hold itself to the highest possible standards, so that we may continue to generate value through the use of analytics. We know that measurement enables monetization, so if the digital media industry hopes to maintain this privilege into the future it is incumbent upon all of us to be a part of the solution.