The European Commission has begun legal proceedings against Britain's approval of Phorm, a behavioural advertising technology.
The UK's privacy and data protection laws are set to come under scrutiny after the European Commission announced it would be taking legal action over the behavioural online advertising system Phorm.
Phorm analyses internet surfers' habits and uses this information to tailor advertising directly at them. The system caused controversy a year ago when BT admitted that it had tested Phorm in 2006 and 2007 without informing the consumers involved in the trials.
The commission has now received a number of complaints from UK citizens over the allowance of Phorm by the British authorities. As a result, the commission has called into question the UK's implementation of EU ePrivacy and data protection legislation.
EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding explained that internet behavioural advertising "can be useful for businesses and consumers" but only if it is in line with legislation.
"I call on the UK authorities to change their national laws and ensure that national authorities are duly empowered and have proper sanctions at their disposal to enforce EU legislation on the confidentiality of communications," she added.
According to the commission, the problem lies in the fact that under British law it is illegal to intercept communications - but only if this is "intentional". Additionally, interception is acceptable if the party reading the data "has reasonable grounds for believing" that consent was granted by the consumer.
The UK now has two months to respond to the claims before proceedings will move forward. The case could eventually go to the European Court of Justice.
