EC starts legal action against UK over Phorm
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BELGIUM-- The European Commission has commenced an infringement proceeding against the UK over tests of Phorm's online targeted advertising software.
The EC said it is concerned about the way the UK has implemented EU privacy rules after receiving questions and complaints from UK citizens and members of the European Parliament following BT's secret 2006 and 2007 trials of the software – which tracks the websites an internet user visits to match them with relevant advertising.
EU privacy rules call on member states to “ensure the confidentiality of communications by prohibiting interception and surveillance without the user's consent”.
For its third and final Phorm trial in 2008, BT users were made aware of the testing and could chose whether to take part, in line with guidance issued by the UK government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
The EC said it had written several letters to the UK authorities asking how the relevant EU laws had been implemented in the Phorm case. It said an analysis of the answers raised concerns that there were structural problems in the way the UK had implemented EU rules ensuring the confidentiality of communications.
Under UK law it is an offence to unlawfully intercept communications. However, the scope of this offence is limited to “intentional” interception only, and interception can be considered to be lawful when the interceptor has “reasonable grounds for believing” that consent has been given.
EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding said: “I call on the UK authorities to change their national laws and ensure that national authorities are duly empowered and have proper sanctions at their disposal to enforce EU legislation on the confidentiality of communications.”
The UK authorities have two months to respond to today's letter of formal notice.
A BERR spokeswoman told Research it had received the letter and was “considering the issues raised and would respond within the timeframe”.
Author: James Verrinder
Related links:
Privacy group urges websites to opt out of Phorm
World Wide Web inventor slams ‘net snooping' technology
IAB leads ‘good practice' initiative for behavioural advertising
