Easy accessibility of self-declaration certificates: A privacy concern for brands?
An advertisement of Honda Amaze CNG is scheduled to be released on July 20, the ZEE TV Headline Tag for the ad titled ‘Polyfix Rapid HV Glue’ will go on air on June 21, and the Rathyatra campaign for jewellery brand Zevarat will be released on July 6. No, we did not ask the advertisers, agencies or broadcasters. If we know all this, so does their competition because it is for everyone to see on the website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).
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After the Supreme Court directive and government mandating self-declaration certificates for advertisers, publishers and broadcasters, many of them have obtained the same, with the ministry putting them up on its website for everyone to see.
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According to industry experts, this is a huge breach of privacy. They speculate that these declarations can give away signals/ hints of a major product launch or a response to a competitor's recent move. “After the SC order, brands have obtained SDCs, which have been uploaded on the website of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting’s Broadcast Seva. They can be easily downloaded and viewed by anyone. They should not be in the public domain till the ads are released. “This definitely raises a privacy concern as other competitors can use it to their advantage and the timing of the campaigns is thrown out of the window. ASCI had also raised this issue,” said an industry expert who did not wish to be named. Recently, the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) in its letter to the MIB had expressed concern over access to the uploaded certificates and material, which would impact confidentiality. “The current upload is not secure, and it seems people could have access to all the materials you upload. This means anyone can search for a brand name and see all current/upcoming assets, impacting confidentiality, especially for new launches. “There is an issue with maintaining confidentiality on new launches,” the ISA had said in its letter to MIB Secretary Sanjay Jaju. Speaking to exchange4media, Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary General of ASCI, said the issue has been raised as it was a serious concern for brands. “This issue has been noted by several advertiser associations and has been brought to the attention of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. We hope this would be resolved at the earliest as this is a serious concern for brands,” said Manisha Kapoor, CEO and Secretary-General, ASCI. The government on June 3 asked all advertisers and advertising agencies to submit a self-declaration certificate making it clear that the advertisement does not contain misleading claims and adheres to regulatory guidelines. The self-declaration has to be submitted for all new print, digital, television and radio advertisements as required by a Supreme Court directive issued last month. For more updates, be socially connected with us on
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Tags : Self Declaration Manisha Kapoor Advertisers Mib Indian Society Of Advertisers