Who would have said Lou Montulli, telecommunications engineer, programmer, founder of epinios.com, today shopping.com, and co-founder of Netscape, the fuss they are provoking the innocent “cookies”, he cooked, with all his science back in the 1990s, aiming to make it easyer the Internet for the users.
These cookies, or what is the same, these files that monitor and register our personal data, tastes, here and there movements through the Internet, and then get stored with al this personal information in our own computers, make it possible for a website to say a polite hello to us using our name everytime we come back around. This avoids all the stuff of introducing our personal data each time we visit the site making our digital life easier to live.
But some of these sweet cookies are poisoned and can therefore be dangerous for the Internet user.
For example, whenever any so-called “marketing expert” use the cookies, not to better serve the clients, but to follow the steps of the users, processing their personal and behavioral information, without their consent, and then these so-called “marketing expert” sells the data obtained to a third party, while the Internet user has no idea what are his/her data going to be employed for. And this is just one example among thousands of risks that may be derived from the personal data collection through cookies.
The cookies that were born as a service for the Internet user – and this should remain to be-, may become in this case an actual security problem. That’s why one should beware the cookie!.
The Asociacion de Autocontrol de la Publicidad (Spanish Association for the Self-regulation and self control of Advertising) along with IAB Spain are addressing the cookies issue through a deonthological code and a self regulation system and quality seal called, confianza on-line (online trust).
The European Union, now on the path to address these privacy issues, is finding not few difficulties to achieve this objective, due to the State differences at the time to understand and make the EU Directive on Protection of Personal Data (Directive 95/46/EC) enter in force in their respective countries.
Since 2010 Autocontrol de la Publicidad participates in the platform created at an European level by the EASA (European Advertising Standards Alliance) and the industry. The platform aims to design a self-regulation system eyeing to achieve a balance between the industry needs and and Internet users rights inside the European Union.
Within this framework, the EASA published last year the Best Practice Recomendation on Online Behabioural Adverstising, a document that is the answer of the European industry – EASA, IAB, WFA, – together with the main European associations in the sector to the new challenges posed by behavioral advertising, in particular those related to the 95/46 EC Directive.
The European Commission has invited EASA last year to present and comment this document. The document and assesments by EASA will be taken into account by the EU in its forthcoming legislative initiatives.
There are many European and national projects for the legal regulation relating to digital advertising, privacy and protection of personal data (behavioral, social networks, advertising, etc.), we just hope that legislators are sensitive to the fast and “rebel” essence of the Internet community, because as we said few months ago in this section of Eastwind Marketing with regard to the Sinde law: It is just no use trying to get the cyber-space fenced.
There is no doubt that the collection of personal data on the Internet through the bitter-sweet cookies must be kept under control.
But just banning “cookies”, could be the start of the Internet assasination and an attempt of doing it now may well even trigger a global offline revolt.
The European Directive currently in force for personal data protection would require the prior consent of each Internet user to allow pushing cookies on his/her computer.
There are different ways to understand the requirement of the prior consent within the EU State members. Some experts say that an express consent is needed, while others, think that the European Dicrective allows the tacit consent (silence by the user would mean giving his/her consent). This latest aproach seems the adopted by the self regulation systemsin the USA .
In the States an specific and recognizable icon warns to each user of a website that if no click out is done, the cookies will be pushed into his/her personal computer.
The European system seems to prefer the “opt in” approach, while the US system is opt out oriented.
The President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, announced on 23rd February that the Government was going to push forward the Privacy Bill of Rights approval. Among other things the project includes the non track option for browsers, so that they are not allowed to store the search data and behavior of the user ìf this user chooses the non track option.
The DAA (Digital Advertising Alliance) has expressed its support for this proposal. By what the US Government has unveiled, the future act will include seven basic guide principles useful both for the industry and for the consumers.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration intends to listen to all stakeholders as well as to ask for the information needed to draw up a list of the companies that decide voluntarily adopting the principles included in the Bill.
The Obama Administration praised on 23rd February the great progress in protecting the privacy of users on the Internet achieved through the self-regulation program launched by the DAA and the Chairmen of the DAA member associations officially thanked the compliment.
The DAA is a coalition that brings together associations of marketing companies and most important media in the country, who are operating in the digital field.
All those are valuable efforts, but given that the Internet is in fact the “global village”, it would be more effective, we think, a self-control system without borders. It would be funny for all to be enjoying an International Brand system, while suffering the lack of a worldwide protection for users’ privacy in the “cyber-planet”.
In short, long life for cookies. They are necessary for the smooth running of the Internet, something that must be preserved. But, no welcome for the use of the data against the will of the user, whose privacy must be also protected. How to harmonize both interests?.
The European Union and the US Government are on track of issuing their respective legal regulations. And the same aim, finding the balance between the interst s of the industry and the users, is behind all the self regulating systems in both in Europe and the USA.
They are all laudable projects. But, as mentioned above, none of them are global, so they may improve security and trust on the Interntet at a regional scale but will never be able solve the issue for all and each of the dwellers in the “ digital Net-planet”.
Manuel G.Carbajo and Eva González have contributed together to this post.
Image over the headline.- I’m watching you. © Eastwind.
Related Eastwind Marketing links:
The Spanish Sinde law: can one fence the cyber-space?
Look out!. The Big Brother monitors you
US Ad industry promotes web opt out option for behavioural data collection
http://www.eastwindmarketing.es/blogs/eastwindmarketingycomunicacion/en/2010/10/05/us-ad-industry-promotes-web-opt-out-option-for-behavioural-data-collection/
