Lib Dems welcome action by European Commission to enforce e-privacy rules in the UK (Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats)

Wantage and Didcot Liberal Democrats <info@wantagelibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems welcome action by European Commission to enforce e-privacy rules in the UK

April 21, 2009 9:05 AM

The European Commission wants to stop internet service providers snooping on users

Liberal Democrat Member of the European Parliament Sharon Bowles has welcomed the news that the European Commission will be taking the UK to task over the use of a behavioural advertising technology known as 'Phorm' by internet service providers (ISPs). Phorm technology works by constantly analysing customers' web surfing to determine users' interests and then deliver targeted adverts when users visit certain websites.

Sharon said: "Privacy is an essential and neglected right. It is good news for all of us that we are finally seeing some abuses of privacy in the public and private sectors alike being taken to task."

She added: "Britain has been slowly falling into a surveillance society. The hoarding of personal information in recent years has become an addiction. It is good to see the government row back on the abuses by local councils. Now it is time to see some real change within central government as well in their attitude to personal surveillance."

European Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding was acting on complaints from UK MEPs and members of the public. British Telecom has admitted that it tested Phorm in 2006 and 2007 without informing customers.

According to the European Commission, this use of Phorm breaches EU e-privacy guidelines. The Commission's action is a pre-litigation stage of proceedings; the Commission can ultimately take the UK to the European Court of Justice over the issue if satisfactory action is not taken by the government.

The European Commission's action on protecting user privacy came as Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called on councils to stop using surveillance powers to catch people for trivial offences. Research by the Liberal Democrats has shown that the powers, designed to fight terrorism, have been used over 10,000 times in England and Wales in the last five years.

Commenting on the Commission's action against Phorm, Sharon said: "There are European rules on privacy protection for a reason. Commissioner Reding has been pursuing this for a while now and I am glad to see she is ramping it up to the next stage. Without the Commission's intervention it is clear that the UK would have simply carried on allowing the ISPs to do as they liked."