And quietly from across the pond…..something great happened (in my opinion). Last week PCWorld highlighted that European regulators dropped a legal case against the U.K. over inadequacy in online privacy laws. The case goes back to 2009 and is all about use of behavioral advertising software.
The E.U. directive prohibits unlawful interceptions and surveillance unless users have given free and informed consent. The U.K. came into compliance by removing reference to “implied consent” and establishing new sanctions for unlawful interceptions and confidentiality infringements.
Not that this is the end of the quest of advertisers to get more information about online habits and activities of the masses, but at least it’s moving in the right direction with requiring that informed consent is given. The problem still lies in the fact the people are very willing to give up “a little bit” of privacy for convenience, but hopefully with the uses of the tracking material coming into light and more widespread efforts to educate users about their rights and what kind of information they are giving up….this trend will start to decline. My only hope currently, is that regulators keep the hard line on this issue, not be swayed by special interest groups or misinformation.
