Today the European Consumers’ Organization (BEUC) published a reflection paper on “Online advertising - impact on consumers”. The consumer organization raises its concerns, inter alia, on the following issues:
- Privacy: Consumers do not always realise that information about their web activities is being collected. New forms of targeted advertising and profiling and through social networks may raise privacy concerns and therefore EU action is needed to ensure that: privacy notices are easily accessible and clearly displayed in plain and intelligible language; consumers give meaningful consent for online targeting and profiling.
- Competition: EU regulators closely monitor the market development and fully apply their powers to ensure that the market remains competitive. Furthermore, privacy issues are integrated in competition law analysis.
- Health advertising: The EU should adopt specific measures to fight against the advertising of illegal online pharmacies, including a careful assessment of sponsored ads through online search engines in line with the existing Community legislation.
- Food advertising: The EU needs to effectively address the problem with advertising of unhealthy/ junk food to young people, including through measured such as a ban on advertising of such food to young people and children.
For further information, see: http://www.beuc.org/Content/Default.asp?PageID=606
Source: BEUC