EU Commissioner Wants Consumer Rights to Adapt to Technology

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

De laatste tijd zie ik een aparte 'profiling' ontwikkeling bij sommige
websites. Een variatie op de 'man in between' ;)

Sommige websites maken het onmogelijk hun pagina's te zien als een
specifieke link geblokkeerd wordt.
Dit kan alleen als die link onderdeel is van een gesloten lus.
Deze pagina's bevatten vaak ook een uniek nummer voor de specifieke pagina
én momentele verbinding.

Als je niet beter zou weten zou je zeggen dat de copyrightlieden weer aan
de gang zijn ;)

Groet / Cees

Via 'Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)' ontvangen:
The European Union Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva,
delivered a keynote speech at the Roundtable on Online Data Collection,
Targeting and Profiling. Concerned over the explosion in the volume of
collected personal data and its use for commercial purposes, the
Commissioner called for a discussion on the newer business models that
employed commercial profiling and targeting. Commissioner Kuneva agreed
that consumer policy needed to go beyond the mere elimination of use of
personally identifiable information.

Calling personal data "the new oil of the internet and the new currency
of the digital world," the stress was laid on the need to promote trust
and confidence that will encourage people to participate in new
opportunities that grow and evolve online. Commissioner Kuneva agreed
that tools to balance the interests of businesses and consumers should
be developed and called for the respect of users' right to control
their public exposure; and the obligation to protect them against
abusive and risky practices. The Commissioner also stated a need for
constructive dialog for a common understanding of the rules for a
better market environment.

Firstly, the Commissioner addressed the issue of privacy policies and a
clear need to reassert users' trust by being more transparent about
data collection activities. She stated that paying for services with
personal data and exposure to ads amounted to a new form of commercial
exchange contractually established by the privacy policy. Privacy
policies must adhere to the same fairness and transparency standards
that are commonly accepted in commercial contracts. Commissioner
Kuneva also wanted privacy policies to contain clear language, opt-in
or opt-out options that are meaningful and easy to use.

Another area of concern in the speech was commercial communications and
the collection of data by the websites which led to profiling. Ensuring
that commercial communications should comply with the law, Commissioner
Kuneva stated that such communications could not deceive, mislead or
amount to excessive pressure. She further wanted to address the
blurring of commercial and non-commercial communications when a
seemingly innocuous advertisement was actually a result of detailed
profiling.

The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs agreed that the increase in
personal information online resulted in increased access to
customized services. However, she warned that such information could
also reveal the degree of interest of the consumer and the likelihood
of payment. The service could then be used to extract the maximum price
possible or to block access from certain services resulting in
commercial discrimination.

Expressing the need of trust from users, Commissioner Kuneva invited the
industry in developing a framework to apply consumer policy rules in
establishing principles of acceptable behavior. She referred to the
statement of the Chairman of US Federal Trade Commission and agreed
that reliance on the industry to improve the situation did not amount
to regulatory retreat, but rather a last chance given to businesses to
improve the situation. She closed her speech saying that consumer
rights must adapt to technology and not be crushed by it and the
current situation with regard to privacy, profiling and targeting was
not satisfactory.


Meglena Kuneva, European Consumer Commissioner:
      http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/kuneva/index_en.htm

Roundtable: Keynote Speech at Brussels, March 31, 2009:
      http://epic.org/redirect/041309_ECCA_Meglena_Roundtable.html

European Consumer Summit 2009, Brussels, 2 April 2009:
      http://epic.org/redirect/041309_ECCA_Meglena_ConsumerSummit.html

EPIC's page on Network Advertising Initiative: Principles not Privacy:
      http://epic.org/privacy/internet/NAI_analysis.html

EU Consumer Affairs:
      http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm

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