RECENT EVENTS IN EU INTERNET LAW

摘要

On 22 June 2010, the so-called Working Party 29rn(the EU-level data protection advisory body)rnissued a detailed opinion on online behaviouralrnJ advertising. The content of this opinion not onlyrnwill deeply affect advertising networks but also willrnhave a significant impact on all companies that displayrnthird-party advertisements on their Web sites.rnWhen Web site operators make use of third-party advertisement networks to display contextual advertisements, their visitors unknowingly expose a significant amount of private data to advertisement networks through the use of cookies, which are installed in a user's browser. Data protection authorities are increasingly concerned about the short- and long-term effects of behavioural advertising, even though behavioural advertising offers interesting advantages to online users (e.g., receiving relevant instead of irrelevant ads).