Not sure how this will end, but it could greatly affect affiliate marketing:
EU Chews on Web Cookies
Europe's effort to regulate online "cookies" is crumbling, exposing how tough it is to curb the practice of tracking Internet users' movements on the Web.
Seeking to be a leader in protecting online privacy, the European Union last year passed a law requiring companies to obtain consent from Web users when tracking files such as cookies are placed on users' computers. Enactment awaits action by member countries.
Now, Internet companies, advertisers, lawmakers, privacy advocates and EU member nations can't agree on the law's meaning. Is it sufficient if users agree to cookies when setting up Web browsers? Is an industry-backed plan acceptable that would let users see—and opt out of—data collected about them? Must placing cookies on a machine depend on the user checking a box each time?
The answers are mired in bickering.
"We're now in a sort of no man's land," says Bridget Treacy, head of the U.K. privacy practice at law firm Hunton & Williams LLP.
European regulators in Brussels promise guidance by early next year. The EU's 27 member nations are supposed to codify the rule into national laws by May. But each country might interpret the law differently, creating a nightmare of conflicting standards. The upshot could be no meaningful change to how cookies operate now.
EU officials see themselves as leaders on consumer-safety issues, such as chemicals and genetically modified foods. But it is proving more difficult to create enforceable protections for the borderless, technology-driven Internet.
The saga began more than two years ago, when European lawmakers suggested revising a telecommunications law that covers cookies: small text files placed on a computer by websites. Cookies can store logins, passwords and preferences, a convenience for users. But cookies also can be used to track a user's movements on the Web. Marketers use those browsing histories to deliver targeted ads.
Under the old law, European law required websites to let consumers "opt out," or decline, cookies, usually by choosing a Web-browser setting. But a committee led by Alexander Alvaro, a German member of the EU Parliament suggested reversing that in the new law, requiring instead that a user "opt in" before cookies are placed.
Continues: EU Has Trouble Digesting New Law on Internet Cookies - WSJ.com
Also:
Consent will be required for cookies in Europe | Pinsent Masons LLP
EU demands Google slashes cookie retention times ? The Register
FT.com / UK / Business - UK gives warning on EU
This is what life may be like for visitors if it takes effect:
EU “Cookies” Directive. Interactive guide to 25th May and what it means for you
EU Chews on Web Cookies
Europe's effort to regulate online "cookies" is crumbling, exposing how tough it is to curb the practice of tracking Internet users' movements on the Web.
Seeking to be a leader in protecting online privacy, the European Union last year passed a law requiring companies to obtain consent from Web users when tracking files such as cookies are placed on users' computers. Enactment awaits action by member countries.
Now, Internet companies, advertisers, lawmakers, privacy advocates and EU member nations can't agree on the law's meaning. Is it sufficient if users agree to cookies when setting up Web browsers? Is an industry-backed plan acceptable that would let users see—and opt out of—data collected about them? Must placing cookies on a machine depend on the user checking a box each time?
The answers are mired in bickering.
"We're now in a sort of no man's land," says Bridget Treacy, head of the U.K. privacy practice at law firm Hunton & Williams LLP.
European regulators in Brussels promise guidance by early next year. The EU's 27 member nations are supposed to codify the rule into national laws by May. But each country might interpret the law differently, creating a nightmare of conflicting standards. The upshot could be no meaningful change to how cookies operate now.
EU officials see themselves as leaders on consumer-safety issues, such as chemicals and genetically modified foods. But it is proving more difficult to create enforceable protections for the borderless, technology-driven Internet.
The saga began more than two years ago, when European lawmakers suggested revising a telecommunications law that covers cookies: small text files placed on a computer by websites. Cookies can store logins, passwords and preferences, a convenience for users. But cookies also can be used to track a user's movements on the Web. Marketers use those browsing histories to deliver targeted ads.
Under the old law, European law required websites to let consumers "opt out," or decline, cookies, usually by choosing a Web-browser setting. But a committee led by Alexander Alvaro, a German member of the EU Parliament suggested reversing that in the new law, requiring instead that a user "opt in" before cookies are placed.
Continues: EU Has Trouble Digesting New Law on Internet Cookies - WSJ.com
Also:
Consent will be required for cookies in Europe | Pinsent Masons LLP
EU demands Google slashes cookie retention times ? The Register
FT.com / UK / Business - UK gives warning on EU
This is what life may be like for visitors if it takes effect:
EU “Cookies” Directive. Interactive guide to 25th May and what it means for you
