The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Google, Facebook and Yahoo!7 called on the Government to be “reasonable and practical” at last week’s privacy law amendment inquiry.

The appeal was delivered by the IAB’s new director of regulatory affairs, Samantha Yorke, who appeared on behalf of the industry before the House of Representatives Committee Inquiry inquiring into the Privacy Amendment Bill last Friday.

Chief among the requests made was the exclusion of online advertising from laws that restrict the use of personal information, a prohibition proposed for direct marketing. Suggestions to implement codes and self-regulation instead of harsh privacy laws were re-iterated.

Getting privacy and security right was in online business’ best interests, Yorke told the Committee. “The online advertising industry’s success is tied to ensuring that people have positive experiences on these platforms and fundamental to this is securing and maintaining users’ trust – which is key to success as an online service provider,” she said.

The joint submission asked that the position of advertising funded online business models be clarified under the direct marketing provision in APP7, noting that Australians are heavy users of free online products and services that are supported by ad revenues.

The IAB also questioned the government’s ability to keep pace with the speed of change in the digital arena and asked that the rights of anonymity and pseudonymity be reconsidered as they are “imprudent and impracticable” in some online contexts.

Full details of the joint submission made by the IAB, Google, Facebook and Yahoo!7 to the Committee can be found here.