EU Commission Wants UK Government To Probe Targeted Advertising
Wednesday July 16th, 2008 / 16h42
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The European Commission has warned the U.K. government it needs to take action to protect consumer privacy due to concerns about targeted advertising company Phorm Inc. (PHRM.LN), European Union communications commissioner Viviane Reding said Wednesday. Reding said the commission was concerned Phorm was breaching consumer privacy directives and that the U.K. government needed to take action. Phorm's technology tracks consumer activity on the Internet. The company has agreements with the U.K.'s three largest Internet service providers - BT Group PLC (BT), Carphone Warehouse's (CPW.LN) Talk Talk and Virgin Media. "It is very clear in E.U. directives that unless someone specifically gives authorization (to track consumer activity on the Web) then you don't have the right to do that," Reding said. She said she was "a little bit worried about this development, and as a result her office sent pre-warning letter to U.K. authorities earlier this month. If the U.K. government didn't resolve the issue, the commission could take it to the European Court of Justice. A Phorm spokesman said he wasn't aware of this development. He said the company complies with all the relevant U.K. laws. A U.K. government spokesman wasn't immediately available for comment. -By Erica Herrero-Martinez, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9353; erica.herrero-martinez@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=tbcz0xXX1Jauzo6mglEnJg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
Les Bourses européennes ont clôturé en ordre dispersé vendredi mais sur une note globalement négative pour la troisième séance d'affilée, dans des échanges peu animés en l'absence...
Wall Street a clôturé en forte baisse jeudi, après la publication de chiffres de l'emploi pires que prévu et qui font douter du scénario d'une reprise rapide. La clôture a été...
La Bourse de Tokyo a fini en baisse de 0,61% vendredi, au lendemain de chiffres de l'emploi américain venus raviver les inquiétudes des investisseurs quant à l'état de l'économie...
Un consortium emmené par le britannique BP et comprenant le chinois CNPC a remporté le contrat d'exploitation du plus important champ pétrolifère d'Irak, a annoncé le ministre...
