Abstract

A familiar experience to users of internet-connected devices, online behavioral advertising (OBA) delivers targeted digital advertisements based on complex monitoring of a user’s demonstrated interests and activities. An increasingly thorough analysis of online behavioral data takes place across a user’s devices across email, social media, and website platforms. Despite the significant biopolitical implications of ubiquitous OBA on a global scale, consistent and enforceable regulations on targeted marketing are lacking. As consumers spend more time online, a common and enforceable legal framework for OBA is urgently needed. After a brief technical overview of OBA and its risks, this article examines current legal frameworks in the EU, Canada, and the United States; discusses some of the hurdles to OBA regulation; then suggests potential, preliminary proposals to moderate the effects of OBA on global society.