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quietus brings a report regarding the EU's proposed changes to legislation to individual privacy on the internet to our attention:

Unlike the US, the EU has some fairly strict privacy laws. Anyone wishing to operate commercially in Europe has to comply with these regulations, but that is not resting easy with the (mainly) US organisations who feel that this will adversely affect their ability to use user's private data in order to target them with relevant advertisements. The EU wants to make it necessary, amongst other changes, for users to opt in to browser data tracking rather than the present opt-out.

Google, Facebook and other online advertising businesses face strict new privacy rules from Brussels on the ways they can track people online.

The new rules would compel websites and browsers, such as Google Chrome, to switch from a default of allowing users to opt out of online advertising to asking them to opt in to view adverts based on their browsing history, according to a leaked draft of new proposals from the European Commission.

The EU's executive arm will also tighten its regulatory grip over services such as WhatsApp and Skype as part of a sweeping overhaul of the bloc's "ePrivacy" directive, which dictates everything from online tracking to marketing emails.

Not unsurprisingly, the online advertisers are claiming that such a move will signal the end of the internet:

"This is very concerning — it's putting at risk the entire internet as we know it," said Yves Schwarzbart, head of policy and regulatory affairs at the Internet Advertising Bureau in the UK. "Our number one concern is asking for prior permission. Advertising is the funding model of the internet, and helps publishers create better content. That whole model could be undermined."

Instead, web advertising groups will be forced to rely on internet browsers encouraging as many people as possible to opt in. "It is a big deal to opt in for the first time, but once you have done it — then you are good to go," said Eduardo Ustaran, a partner specialising in data protection at Hogan Lovells.

Furthermore:

[...] In a boon to the telecoms industry, operators will be able to use customer metadata, including when and to whom a call was made, in order to provide "value added services" such as advertising.

As part of the overhaul, rules around cookie warnings — the unpopular pop-up boxes that show when a website is tracking a user — will also be relaxed. Websites that use cookies to monitor things such as the number of visitors will not be required to warn users.

Original Submission