Europe's more stringent view of online privacy

[Commentary] A Q&A with Jacob Kohnstamm.

He has emerged as a central figure in the simmering international debate over digital privacy - and as a consistent critic of major U.S. Internet companies. Kohnstamm is chairman of both the Dutch Data Protection Authority and the Article 29 Working Party, the European Commission's advisory body on online privacy. In that role, he recently instigated a French investigation into Google's planned overhaul of its privacy policies and sternly warned major online advertisers that their proposals for a do-not-track option for its Internet browser wouldn't meet the standards of European law. He talks about the European view of digital privacy, the ongoing debate over do not track and the status of the European Commission's strict new privacy proposals.