The online ad industry could be forced to rethink its new self-regulatory code on behavioural advertising – designed to dodge stiff regulation – after EU data protection chiefs warned it is virtually “meaningless”.
The use of behavioural advertising is one of the most controversial issues within the digital sector as, although most agree it opens up a raft of targeting opportunities, it also sparks huge privacy issues.
The new code is supported by many leading content providers, including the BBC, Financial Times and Telegraph Media Group, as well as AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo! and is the result of a collaborative effort by the entire online ad sector.
Those who have been involved in drawing up the code include IAB Europe, the World Federation of Advertisers, the European Advertising Standards Alliance, the Direct Marketing Association and the Incorporated Society for British Advertisers (ISBA).
By clicking on the privacy icon, consumers can get further information about behavioural advertising in the relevant European language as well as manage information preferences or stop receiving behavioural ads via a new pan-European website, www.youronlinechoices.eu.
At the time of the launch in April, industry sources claimed the initiative was a “fudge” and a cynical attempt to keep Brussels mandarins at bay. And now, it seems, the EU has confirmed this view with Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Data Protection Working Party 29, saying that advertisers will be relying on consent that is “illusory”.
In a letter to the trade bodies, he said: “While this mechanism is welcome and constitutes an improvement to the current situation, it does not meet the requirement to obtain the aforementioned informed consent. For such mechanism to be a valid form of consent, it should leave no doubt about the users wishes. It cannot be concluded that users who have not objected to being tracked for purposes of serving behavioural advertising have exercised a real choice.
“The Working Party 29 considers that the proposed mechanisms would lead to consent of many internet users being wrongly assumed. Online behavioural advertising will therefore rely on consent that is, in fact, illusory,” Kohnstamm said.
Kohnstamm sent the letter to the IABE and EASA ahead of a September meeting with the bodies’ representatives. He said that the advertising icon used by companies signed up to the code did not currently carry enough meaning to provide users with the legally required information that would enable them to make informed choices about cookie tracking.
“In the future, it is possible that the icon might eventually be recognised by average Internet users who, depending on how it is provided, may be able to understand its underlying meaning. However, nowadays an icon will mean very little to users,” he said. As for the link, he said information made available through clicking the icon should be more accessible and be directly visible.
Kohnstamm also called for a centralised system for obtaining single consent to all advertising network’s cookie tracking and said the Working Party “encourages all industry-stakeholders to work together towards finding workable solutions”.
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