Several privacy regulators in Europe want a ban on so-called tracking cookies: small files that advertisers can use to track people online. This allows them to see exactly what consumers are doing and tailor advertisements accordingly.
The regulators also want a ban on profiling children. Such a profile summarizes what someone is interested in so that the advertisements can be selected on it. The watchdogs are affiliated with the European Data Protection Board. He has sent a letter to the European Commission because it is working on new rules.
According to the regulators, the rights of citizens are not protected enough, and there is not enough supervision, and the new rules contradict existing laws.
Tracking cookies don’t track people on a single site but everywhere. For example, they see that someone on webshop A looks at one washing machine, on webshop B searches for another washing machine, and then looks at reviews of such appliances on yet another site.
That person can then suddenly be presented with an advertisement for washing machines on a completely different site.
