SEP 15, 2016
CONSTITUTION CENTER
400 7th St SW, Washington, DC 20024
EVENT DESCRIPTION
The Federal Trade Commission will host a public workshop in
Washington, DC on September 15, 2016 to examine the testing and evaluation of
disclosures that companies make to consumers about advertising claims, privacy
practices, and other information.
Effective disclosures are critical in helping consumers make
informed decisions in the marketplace.
Many advertisers have used disclosures in an attempt to
prevent their advertisements from being deceptive. Disclosures must be crafted
with care both with respect to their language and presentation. Disclosures
used in the marketplace are sometimes ineffective. Commission staff has recommended that
disclosures be tested for effectiveness.
Disclosures are also challenging in the privacy arena,
whether disclosing to consumers that their physical location or online
interactions are being tracked, or explaining privacy practices when consumers
sign up for a service. Privacy policies are often long and difficult to
comprehend and privacy-related icons may fail to communicate information
meaningfully to consumers. Furthermore, the accompanying mechanisms for
consumers to provide informed consent or exercise choices about the use of
their data may also be confusing. The Commission has long encouraged the
development and testing of shorter, clearer, easier-to-use privacy disclosures
and consent mechanisms.
The FTC has issued guides to help businesses avoid deceptive
claims, such as guidance related to endorsements, environmental claims, fuel
economy advertising, and the jewelry industry. Often the guidance presents
options for qualifying claims to avoid deception. In developing guides, the
Commission has sometimes relied on consumer research to gauge whether specific
disclosures can be used to qualify otherwise misleading claims.
The FTC has a long commitment to understanding and testing
the effectiveness of consumer disclosure, and is especially interested in
learning about the costs and benefits of disclosure testing methods in the
digital age. A number of factors impact
the effectiveness of disclosures, including whether they contain the most
essential information and consumers notice them, direct their attention towards
them, comprehend them, and are able to use that information in their decision
making. Some testing methods are more
appropriate than others for evaluating these factors.
The workshop is aimed at encouraging and improving the
evaluation and testing of disclosures by industry, academics, and the FTC. The FTC’s workshop will explore how to test
the effectiveness of these disclosures to ensure consumers notice them,
understand them and can use them in their decision-making. It is intended to further the understanding
of testing and evaluation of both offline and online consumer disclosures,
including those delivered through icons, product labels, short text, long text,
audio or video messages, interactive tools, and other media. Topics may include
evaluation criteria, testing methodologies and best practices, case studies,
and lessons learned from such testing.
PROSPECTIVE PRESENTERS:
The FTC has set up an email box, disclosuretesting@ftc.gov
(link sends e-mail), for anyone interested in being a presenter at the
event. Prospective presenters should
submit a statement detailing their expertise on testing and evaluating
disclosures directed to consumers, whether online, in traditional media, on
product labelling, or otherwise, and a description of what they would present.
We are interested in both previously published papers (please provide the
papers or links to where they are available online), as well as descriptions of
unpublished evaluations of disclosures. The deadline for submitting requests to
present is Friday, July 15, 2016.
The FTC also invites the public to submit comments in
connection with the workshop.
Interested parties may file a comment electronically at
https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/disclosuretestingworkshop.
Alternatively, paper comments may be mailed to Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Suite
CC-5610 (Annex B), Washington, DC 20580, or they may be delivered to Federal
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite
5610 (Annex B), Washington, DC 20024.
Please write “Disclosure Testing Workshop Project No. P 164503” on your
comment so that it will be readily identified with this workshop.
The public comment period will remain open until November 2,
2016. Comments will be posted on the workshop’s public webpage.
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