The Old Continent has just adopted a law aimed at better regulating the use of targeted online advertising.
The European Parliament adopted last Thursday a bill aimed at better regulating targeted advertising on the Internet. Mainly intended for GAFAM, the text was validated by a very large majority, with 530 votes for, 78 against and 80 abstentions. A project that seems to have achieved consensus, on the left and on the right.
Initiated in 2020, the text should concretely prohibit Google, Amazon and Meta (formerly Facebook) from using sensitive data about their users, such as sexual orientation, ethnic origin or religion. More broadly, the law on digital services should also make it easier for Internet users to have their data – or the monitoring of it – deleted within a platform. Finally, large companies will now have to more drastically remove illegal content, from counterfeit products to online hate speech, or risk being held legally responsible.
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Within the text in question, the European Parliament also approved last month the total ban on advertising for minors, as well as certain practices nicknamed dark pattern, aimed at misleading Internet users into accepting tracking. advertising. A breach of the principle of free and informed consent enacted by article 82 of the Data Protection Act, which the CNIL has already sanctioned this year with Facebook and Google.
Any company violating the Digital Services Act will be at great risk, since penalties can reach up to 6% of their global turnover. However, it will be necessary to wait several more months before the text is actually applied. After Parliament’s validation, negotiations with the European Council will begin on January 31, and could bring some changes to the project.
However, the idea of an Internet that is more respectful of the privacy of its users is not limited to the Old Continent. If Europe is a model in this area, the United States also presented a similar project last week, which could legally prohibit advertising tracking on its territory. A decision that would not really do the business of Big Tech, which derives a substantial part of their profits from this targeting.
