Montgomery to Lead New 4As Privacy Committee

In New York, GroupM Interaction's COO John Montgomery has been named Chairman of a new American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) committee on Internet privacy.

The new Privacy Committee - made up of more than 15 members representing media agencies - was set up earlier this month as an offshoot of 4As 'Media Policy Committee', of which Montgomery is a member.

Its main focus will be on the current call for privacy legislation around the collection of personal information about consumers that could be used for marketing purposes. Montgomery is an expert in the field and recently testified before the US Senate Commerce Committee during a privacy policy hearing.

At the hearing, Montgomery renewed his call for self-regulation as a preferred method of consumer notification. The Federal Trade Commission has by contrast called for browser manufacturers to create a 'do not track' system that would let Internet users indicate that they don't want their online movements followed.

Montgomery has also been involved with other industry experts such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the 4As in promoting the use of an icon that appears on ads to inform Internet users that data is being collected about their browsing behavior.

'John is a recognized expert in the privacy arena and was the perfect choice to act as Chairman of our new committee,' states 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.'

After a 15-year career with ad giant Ogilvy in South Africa and the Netherlands, Montgomery led the Ogilvy/MindShare interactive media practice mOne in North America, and was subsequently appointed Global CEO of MindShare Interaction. He took up his current role in 2008. As part of his responsibilities, he leads GroupM's privacy and data strategy and works closely with industry bodies that help set policy in these areas.

Web site: www.aaaa.org .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.