EC demands do-not-track 'or else'

Web companies have 12 months to come up with a do-not-track standard or face a major clampdown, the European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda has warned.
Commissioner Neelie Kroes claims the market needs tougher action and that the recent launch of a behavioural ad icon – backed by the IAB – is not enough to satisfy the regulators.
She said: “I am worried by what we see happening: data breaches affecting thousands if not millions; social networking sites rolling out new features with very open default settings; exposure and identity theft. One target of the Digital Agenda is to have 50% of Europeans buying online by 2015. We will not reach this without reinforcing trust and confidence.”
In addition, the new so-called “Cookies Directive” came into force last month. But the majority of EU member states failed to meet the deadline to transpose the directive into national law. Under the directive, companies must obtain “explicit consent” from Web users before storing cookies, as well as giving consumers information on what the data collected is to be used for.
UK Information Commissioner Christopher Graham’s powers to impose the law have also been called into question, as his office simply does not have the resources to police the new legislation.
Cookies are not the only way to track individuals online. Browser add-ons and the “fingerprinting” of browser configurations also need to be taken into account said Kroes. “This is why a broader approach needs to be taken on the subject of do-not-track technologies.”
Do-not-track is already deployed in some Web browsers. And some Web businesses say they honour it, but this is not enough, claims Kroes. “There is an important difference between a commitment not to record tracks and a commitment not to use them for a specific purpose once recorded,” she concluded.