“Europe: Brussels court ruling on tracking-based ads a major win for right to privacy”

Responding to the Brussels Court of Appeal ruling establishing that the consent model underpinning tracking-based advertising by Big Tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and X in Europe is incompatible with EU privacy data law, Hannah Storey, Amnesty International Policy Advisor on Technology and Human Rights said:

“This a major win for the right to privacy and a clear message that the tech industry should move away from surveillance-based advertising to a more rights-respecting model…

“Advertising online is underpinned by ‘real time bidding’. This system collects personal information about us…

“Every time you load a website this personal information is shared with thousands of companies who then bid to show you an advert without proper control over your information and that’s a massive privacy breach.

“Big Tech companies have tried to argue that they are complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an EU digital privacy law enacted in 2016 to enhance data protection and privacy for individuals, by using the Transparency and Consent Framework – asking for our consent for this privacy invasion through mere popups – but this ruling shows that this model is not sufficient.” …