Speaking this morning at the AOP Digital Publishing Summit session entitled "Leading the pack", Brittin said: "People think Google has all the information on everything they do. In fact, we are very thoughtful about privacy and data.
"We collect the minimum amount of data on people. There needs to be a little bit more education about what data is being used for and publishers have to be thoughtful about what data they collect and use."
Brittin said digital publishers needed to be transparent and give consumers choice. "Show consumers what you are using and give them a chance to opt in," he said.
Other panellists at the session included Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian News & Media; Stephen Miron, chief executive of Global Radio, and Mark Wood, UK chief executive of Future Publishing.
Brooks said digital ad revenue at GN&M was up 50% year on year in the first half of 2010 and Guardian.co.uk was the 18th most popular website in the world, yet he conceded GN&M had yet to arrive at a digital business model.
When questioned about the high-profile introduction of paywalls at News International, Miron, who used to be managing director of the Daily Mail & General Trust’s online business, MailOnline, said: "The Times has made a decision.
"I’m sure [their subscription] numbers aren’t exciting, but will that kill Murdoch? I think not. MailOnline has gone down a different route and had unbelievable success. There is no template solution about what works. People get hung up [on the differences] rather than believing that we can each do really well."
The panel agreed that media businesses needed to experiment and not be "afraid to fail", as it was much cheaper to make mistakes in the digital space.
Brooks said: "The key to innovation is not about money, it’s about talent and giving that talent freedom."
"We collect the minimum amount of data on people. There needs to be a little bit more education about what data is being used for and publishers have to be thoughtful about what data they collect and use."
Brittin said digital publishers needed to be transparent and give consumers choice. "Show consumers what you are using and give them a chance to opt in," he said.
Other panellists at the session included Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian News & Media; Stephen Miron, chief executive of Global Radio, and Mark Wood, UK chief executive of Future Publishing.
Brooks said digital ad revenue at GN&M was up 50% year on year in the first half of 2010 and Guardian.co.uk was the 18th most popular website in the world, yet he conceded GN&M had yet to arrive at a digital business model.
When questioned about the high-profile introduction of paywalls at News International, Miron, who used to be managing director of the Daily Mail & General Trust’s online business, MailOnline, said: "The Times has made a decision.
"I’m sure [their subscription] numbers aren’t exciting, but will that kill Murdoch? I think not. MailOnline has gone down a different route and had unbelievable success. There is no template solution about what works. People get hung up [on the differences] rather than believing that we can each do really well."
The panel agreed that media businesses needed to experiment and not be "afraid to fail", as it was much cheaper to make mistakes in the digital space.
Brooks said: "The key to innovation is not about money, it’s about talent and giving that talent freedom."
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