EU Panel Rejects Opt-Out For Online Behavioral Advertising

The European Union's data protection authorities released an opinion June 24 declaring that online advertisers who seek to target ads at consumers by tracking their surfing habits must obtain consumer consent before engaging in such practices.

The opinion from the EU's Article 29 Data Protection Working Party, which is made up of data protection officials from the EU's member countries, said firms engaged in online behavioral advertising must abide by EU electronic privacy rules requiring online sites to obtain "informed" consent from users before installing tracking devices such as cookies on Internet users' computers.