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back to article EC forms industry body to probe behavioural ad issues

The European Commission has formed a new group in an attempt to regulate companies' growing gathering and use of customers' personal data. The group has been formed to address problems the Commission says are eroding consumer trust. Online retail is increasingly dependent on information on users' browsing habits and …

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  1. g e

    Short of cash?

    Then form a comittee/working group/quango to 'look at' something worth lots of money to business so they know where to send their lobbying dollars/roubles/naira...

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  2. David Pollard

    We live in hope

    "Companies' growing gathering and use of customers' personal data" is "eroding consumer trust."

    Governmental data gathering is increasing too, and likewise eroding trust.

    Perhaps if solutions appear for commercial use these could also be applied to government databases; for example by mandating that data subjects should be able to know what data is held on them and who has been accessing it, and by making it easy to amend it if necessary.

    It seems more likely though that all that will come from this EU initiative is yet another tax-funded talking shop.

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  3. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
    Boffin

    There's no place like 127.0.0.1

    Firefox, NoScript, AdBlock, BetterPrivacey, peer Guardian, Modified Hosts file (http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm) etc. etc.

    Move along folks, nothing to see here...

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Eroding consumer trust!?

    Isn't that like saying, 'the problem with being robbed and assaulted outside you home is that it might affect your neighbours’ property value’?

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Re: There's no place like 127.0.0.1

    Yes, and I'm getting sick of it.

    Why do I constantly have to update my hosts file to preserve privacy? Because ad providers constantly move their servers to get around such blocking.

    Why to I need to make Flash preferences read only at the OS level? Because Flash doesn't provide any sane way of managing privacy. Making Flash storage read-only breaks a number of sites but there's no other way to be certain.

    Firefox, NoScript, AdBlock, BetterPrivacy? All good, valuable tools, but at the end of the day: meh. Advertisers make it easier and easier for ecommerce companies to host the damn scripts themselves. How does BetterPrivacy help here? Third-party cookie blocking? Hotmail seems to think this is a security risk! Sites increasingly need scripts to run. How does NoScript help here? True, some sites at least tell you what they are up to (iPlayer and iTunes spring to mind). But all too many sites don't. If Phorm hadn't blown up so spectacularly, all these blocking methods would be moot anyway: either you choose to get tracked or stay off the 'net. Some choice! Have you seen the O2 Mobile Broadband T&C's? Apparently you automatically grant them the right to pass all communication activity, content and location data to anyone they see fit. How many subscribers are even aware of this?

    Privacy is supposedly a human right - at least that's what the EU legislation says. It doesn't say "You only get to have privacy on teh Intarwebs if you are l33t." It's meant to be a basic right, so good on the EU for looking at this.

    Meanwhile, tracking is becoming all-pervasive, impossible to block and no-one is (currently) calling the trackers to account.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The "Consumer" IS THE LARGEST of all the Stakeholders

    > "Stakeholders should agree on better consumer information when

    > profiles are used. In essence, consumers should be informed that ads

    > are based on their profile," she said. "I hope we can also agree on

    > the need to give consumers access to the ad segments they are in, and

    > the right to change them if they wish."

    >

    it may have escaped the lawyers and the Corporations Executives thinking Etc. by design or by incompetence ....

    but its clear the "Consumer" IS THE LARGEST of all the Stakeholders,

    they Clearly Own the Copyright to their Profiles ,its data and its use for commercial profit by 3rd

    party's and any Derivative works made from it, to be blunt, every part of its use and the profits it generates, End OF Story...

    i leave you with this most obvious thought....

    this new Deep Packet Interception/Inspection use for this and related data collection goes Way Beyond any mere behavioural ad issues, its use is a clear cut case of commercial piracy for profit without a Clear transparent agreement with the stakeholder of that Data before its authorised use.

    that's YOU the Consumer.

    thanks Sub-Ed, its nice to see instructive feedback.

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