The data watchdog of the UK has restarted an investigation of adtech practices that have been subject to scores of complaints all across Europe since 2018 under the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR.
UK data watchdog to continue with investigation
The high number of trading of personal data of Internet users can't be compliant with the requirement of GDPR that the information should be secured, according to the complaints.
Other concerns linked to RTB or real-time bidding focus on user consent, and has questioned how this can eventually meet the required legal standard with data being given to various companies, including sensitive information like religious affiliation, political affiliation, health data and sexual orientation.
Since the first complaints about this were filed, the Information Commissioner's Office or ICO in the UK has raised concerns over what the process says about the systemic issues with lawfulness in the adtech sector.
However, in 2020, it was announced that the ICO was putting the investigation on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to TechCrunch.
On January 21, it is announced that the investigation will continue. In an update, ICO deputy commissioner Simon McDougall wrote that the eight-month freeze is now over and that they will start auditing the platforms.
McDougall said that they will now resume the investigation as enabling transparency and protecting the vulnerable Internet users are the priorities of the ICO.
McDougall added that sharing the personal data of the users with hundreds of companies without addressing and assessing the risk raises questions around the security and retention of the data. He continued that the work will be comprised of audits that will focus on digital market platforms and they will be issuing assessment notices to companies in the next few months.
ICO to take action
It is still not clear what data the ICO lacks to come to a decision on complaint that are approaching almost three years at this point.
However, the ICO has committed to resume looking at adtech, including at data brokers who writes that they will be reviewing the role of data brokers in the adtech environment, according to DMA.
McDougall said that the investigation is complex because of the sensitivity of the work. He added that there will be times where it won't be possible to give regular updates. But they are committed to publishing their final findings, as soon as the investigation is concluded.
Despite the numerous data on the scale of the personal data leakage linked to RTB, and the ongoing concern that all sorts of harms are flowing from the mass surveillance of Internet users done by adtechs, the ICO is not rushing to enforce new rules.
In fact, ICO quietly closed the 2018 complaint in 2020, telling the complainants that it believed it had investigated the issue to the extend appropriate and there is nothing to investigate anymore. It is in the process of being sued by the complainants as a ramification of what they did, and basically for doing nothing about their complaint, according to Lexology.
The Open Rights Group, which is involved in the 2018 legal action and is helping the complainants, are now running a crowdfunder to raise money to sue the ICO and take them to court.
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Written by Sieeka Khan
