By Chris Williams for The Register. This story has
been reproduced with permission.
Meglena Kuneva, the consumer affairs Commissioner, told a
gathering of ISPs, major websites and advertising firms they are
violating "basic consumer rights in terms of transparency, control
and risk", through data collection and behavioural targeting.
"I want to send a warning signal today that we cannot afford
foot dragging in this area," she said.
"If we fail to see an adequate response to consumers concerns on
the issue of data collection and profiling, as a regulator, we will
not shy away from our duties nor wait for a cataclysm to wake us
up."
Officials are understood to be particularly concerned about
ISPs' experiments using Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology to
intercept and profile their customers' web use. The information
society and media Commissioner Viviane Reding's department is still
investigating the UK government's apparent failure to enforce
European privacy law over BT and Phorm's secret trials of such a
system in 2006 and 2007.
Kuneva's initiative will also address behavioural targeting and
data collection by websites.
Google launched its own behavioural tracking network earlier
this month, requiring consumers who do not want to be tracked to
opt out. "We must establish the principles of transparency, clear
language, opt-in or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to
use," Kuneva said. "I am talking about the right to have a stable
contract and the right to withdraw."
She will tell delegates that to avoid regulation they must agree
rules to protect consumers' rights, in line with existing
legislation. The UK's Internet Advertising Bureau recently
published behavioural advertising guidelines in an attempt to ward
off regulation. Privacy activists were not satisfied, however,
particularly with the guidelines' onus on consumers to opt out.
Proponents of behavioural targeting point to anonymising
measures as a guarantee of privacy. Phorm identifies users only via
a random token, but Kuneva will argue such steps do not completely
mitigate privacy conerns.
"The current work on privacy has concentrated on eliminating
personally identifiable information such as name or IP addresses
from the public domain," she said. "Consumer policy needs to go
beyond that and address the fact that users have a profile and can
be commercially targeted based on that profile, even if no one
knows their actual name."
Kuneva's department will also today begin an informal
investigation of online privacy and data collection in preparation
for potential regulatory action. At a recent Westminster event,
British peers said the Information Commissioner's Office,
responsible for enforcing EU privacy regulations, had failed in its
duty to consumers over behavioural targeting.
In separate news on Monday, Phorm officially announced a trial
of its technology by Korea Telecom.
© The Register
2009
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