Banning Surveillance-Based Advertising
The Norwegian Consumer Council just published a fantastic new report: “Time to Ban Surveillance-Based Advertising.” From the Introduction:
The challenges caused and entrenched by surveillance-based advertising include, but are not limited to:
- privacy and data protection infringements
- opaque business models
- manipulation and discrimination at scale
- fraud and other criminal activity
- serious security risks
In the following chapters, we describe various aspects of these challenges and point out how today’s dominant model of online advertising is a threat to consumers, democratic societies, the media, and even to advertisers themselves. These issues are significant and serious enough that we believe that it is time to ban these detrimental practices.
A ban on surveillance-based practices should be complemented by stronger enforcement of existing legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation, competition regulation, and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. However, enforcement currently consumes significant time and resources, and usually happens after the damage has already been done. Banning surveillance-based advertising in general will force structural changes to the advertising industry and alleviate a number of significant harms to consumers and to society at large.
A ban on surveillance-based advertising does not mean that one can no longer finance digital content using advertising. To illustrate this, we describe some possible ways forward for advertising-funded digital content, and point to alternative advertising technologies that may contribute to a safer and healthier digital economy for both consumers and businesses.
Press release. Press coverage.
I signed their open letter.
Clive Robinson • June 24, 2021 12:07 PM
@ All,
I hope they push the idea through to law.
Norway is not a big country, and technically it’s relationship with the EU is “interesting”.
However, we need a “domino” effect if we “the citizens” of the World are going to get even a tiny amount of personal privacy back from Intetnational Corporates and foreign Governments.
I Know the first likely result people would think about and fear would be a “strike” whereby the Major Corps blocked Norway off.
But would they?
Norway is not a poor country and it’s not a tyrany / dictatorship / police state (ay least not the last tine I was there 😉 And we know Alphabet/Google, Apple and others have Kow-towed to Tyrants, Dictators and fascist leaders “to do buisness”
So the chanvrs are “money will talk” and Silicon Valley will give ground. Which will make it easier for the next country and so on.
Oh and eventially the US as well, becsuse at some point it won’t be finacially viable to carry on, and ultimately that is how you stop such activities you “Change the incentives”.
But… there is one question I’ve yet to see be answered by this “targeted advertising” usually consumer surveys show that people are very much against “targeted advertising” by more than 8 in 10, has there ever actually been any evidence “targeted advertising” makes a profit for those “actually selling goods” as opposed to the rip off / con artists called Data Brokers who take so much of the money, you seriously have to ask if they are fraudsters or crooks?
I don’t buy on line and have no intention of doing so, but if I did have need of something I could not get through living in a large metropolitan area, then I would go do my own research, it’s what I do for non-everyday items already anyway. And I know I’m a bit of a “barnacle” from time to time, I’ve found sometimes after doing research I actually “do not buy” even though it was and probably is still something I want, I find the research tells me it’s not yet “Market ready” from my point of view, for sometimes what some “Marketers” would consider quite odd reasons.
For instance I do not have a TV currently, and I would like one, but all those I’m interested in “Have to be Internet connected” without good reason, which is a fairly sure indicator that “data collection” of Private information is going on one way or another… So I don’t buy no matter what “Bells and Whistles” such connectivity apparently gives. It appears to upset sales people when I ask if Internet is necessary, and then say “because I don’t have it and don’t want it”, then “So I’ll only buy on the condition no Internet is required” and If I find it is “it’s comming straight back for a full refund without any re-stocking fee”…