The Status of Opt-In Consent Requirements

Under the current NAI Code of Conduct and Mobile Application Code, our member companies are required to obtain Opt-In Consent for the use of Precise Location Data in Interest-Based Advertising and Cross-App Advertising, as well as in Retargeting. We provided more direction on this topic in 2015 with the release of the Guidance for NAI Members: Determining Whether Location is Imprecise, which helps our member companies evaluate the relative precision of location data while providing a number of best practices for rendering this data imprecise.

The NAI Board of Directors continues to evaluate whether it would be appropriate to provide additional guidance on the topic of how consumers can provide Opt-In Consent. This issue is somewhat challenging because of the continuous evolution of the consumer consent mechanisms included in most mobile platforms. Additionally, different mobile ecosystems allow for varying levels of granularity for both notice and choice.

Despite these ongoing considerations, NAI members must continue to comply with the Opt-In Consent requirements of the NAI Code of Conduct and Mobile Application Code. NAI members can comply through the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) Mobile Guidance, Section IV.B.2, which provides a number of methods for Third Parties – like NAI member companies – to obtain Opt-In Consent, or reasonable assurances that a First Party, such as a mobile application, has obtained such consent on their behalf.