Commissioner’s Opinion on novel adtech published

Article summary

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a Commissioner’s Opinion on ‘data protection and privacy expectations for online advertising proposals’ to provide guidance to companies developing new advertising technologies (adtech). The privacy standards set out in the Opinion provide a warning to companies designing novel methods of online advertising that they must stop the excessive collection and use of people’s data, and comply with data protection law. A significant proposal within online advertising is the Google Privacy Sandbox that seeks to use alternative technologies that enable targeted digital advertising away from third party cookies. In collaboration with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the ICO has been working to review Google’s plans to safeguard personal data while also supporting the CMA’s mission for competition in digital markets. Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, makes it clear that companies designing novel digital adtech should offer people the option to receive advertisements without profiling, tracking or targeting based on excessive...