Information Commissioner issues code of practice for online behavioural advertising

The Information Commissioner’s Office – the UK’s data protection regulator – has issued a code of practice dealing with online behavioural advertising issues. Online behavioural advertising refers to the practice of presenting target ads based on a user’s behaviour online. The ICO has said that the behaviour is not intrinsically bad, but it must be conducted fairly. Users should be given details of what is being done on a tracked basis, and explicit consent is needed where the information being tracked is sensitive personal data, such as sexual health. The guidance says that service providers are able to refuse to provide a service to a user if they have not opted in to the use of cookies and the use of the cookies is strictly necessary for the provision of the service. The ICO’s battle cry is simply fairness and openness. To read the ICO’s code of practice, click here: http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/detailed_specialist_guides/personal_information_online_cop.pdf.