EU Talks Tough on Online Targeting

The European Union will step-in to counter surfer profiling and breaches in data privacy, according to its Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. Kuneva believes that online users' privacy rights are being abused by advertisers.

In a speech on online data collection given at a conference in Brussels, Kuneva outlined a set of tougher rules for best practise on how Internet users' personal data should be used to target ads based on their online behavioural habits.

'The current situation with regard to privacy, profiling and targeting is not satisfactory,' Kuneva told a conference in Brussels. 'Basic consumer rights in terms of transparency, control and risk are being violated and this cannot continue.'

During her presentation, the Commissioner outlined European laws regulating the protection of privacy, and said that the regulations were failing to keep up with the pace of developments on the Internet.

She accused the online ad industry of neglecting to make opt-out systems transparent and easy-to-follow, and called on the industry to produce its own set of voluntary guidelines to protect consumer and privacy rights. However, she warned that if this doesn't happen, the EU will intervene to prevent abuses.

Kuneva recently commissioned research into Internet use, which has found that 80% of the under-25 age group is convinced their personal data has been used for commercial purposes without their consent. 'They are right,' Kuneva stated. 'The new reality is that consumers are paying for services with their personal data and their exposure to ads.'

Kuneva did not give a date as to how long the Commission will wait for improvements, but she is expecting results from 2010.