The Advertising Association promotes the role and rights of responsible advertising and its value to people, society, businesses and the economy. We represent UK advertisers, agencies and brands on behalf of the entire industry, acting as the connection between industry professionals and the politicians and policy-makers.

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The Advertising Association focuses on major industry and policy areas that have huge ramifications on UK advertising. This section contains our work around Brexit, HFSS and gambling advertising, data and e-privacy, trust, the digital charter and our Industrial Strategy campaigns.

Credos is the advertising industry’s independent think tank. It produces research, evidence and reports into the impact and effectiveness of and public and political response to advertising on behalf of UK advertisers in order to enable the industry to make informed decisions.

Front Foot is our industry’s member network of over 50 businesses across UK advertising. It aims to promote the role of responsible advertising and its value to people, society and the economy through a coalition of senior leaders from advertisers, agencies and media owners.

We run a number of events throughout the year, from our annual LEAD summit to the Media Business Course and regular breakfast briefings for our members. We are also the official UK representative for the world’s biggest festival of creativity – Cannes Lions.

Getting data & privacy right

/ March 19th 2018
Data and E-Privacy News

In the context of digital advertising, data privacy means balancing individuals’ right to privacy with their desire for high-quality digital services and content, which are both free and tailored to people’s preferences and interests. Data enables content and advertising to be tailored for, and targeted to, specific audiences.

Cross-border data flows and a practical, proportionate data protection regime are pre-requisites to the effective functioning of digital advertising businesses and to the UK’s attractiveness as a place to innovate and operate digital businesses.

2017 saw the AA’s data protection working group, chaired by Chris Combemale of the Direct Marketing Association, focus their attention on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation and the negotiations in Brussels for a new e-Privacy Regulation. DCMS officials, who regularly attend our meetings, provided invaluable insight into these negotiations, particularly in two key areas:

GDPR implementation

2017 saw us responding to several consultations on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation before it takes effect in May 2018. Calls for evidence from the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Article 29 Working Party have been key as they develop guidance to help businesses comply with the new rules. The AA provided evidence during the development of the Data Protection Bill, calling on Government to exercise important derogations that will help businesses continue to provide content and services to users.

We also welcomed the Government’s Data Protection Bill, and have written to Ministers including David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, in support of the ICO continuing to have a role in the European data protection authorities’ network post-Brexit.

e-Privacy Regulation

We organised a European industry lunch in Brussels to discuss the proposed e-Privacy Regulation with representatives from the European Parliament and Member States, including the MEP leading the negotiations and UK Government officials.

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