EU to Online Ad Lobby: Make a Serious Do-Not-Track System and Work with W3C

The EU's Article 29 Working Party, the data protection commissioners group, has sent a letter to the IAB EU and EASA saying that the online ad industry should work with the W3C's Do Not Track process.  As you know, the White House endorsed two weeks ago the Digital Advertising Alliance's (DAA) plan to develop a form of Do Not Track.  However, many privacy and consumer groups worry that the DAA's approach will not really prevent tracking. The DAA is fearful of the W3C process because it is likely to develop a serious standard designed to stop much more data collection and tracking.  The letter from Article 29 also says that any Do Not Track system complying with EU law should stop all tracking.  The letter also says that the self-regulatory code of conduct the industry has adopted for behavioral ads fails to provide the informed consent of users required under EU law.  Since the online ad industry's self-regulatory approaches are similar on both sides of the Atlantic, the Article 29 statement underscores that the US self-regulatory system also has serious flaws.