Facebook and Google forced to ask permission before taking users' data in tough new EU privacy crackdown

A new EC report wants to crack down on firms like Google using individual's data

Internet firms will be forced to get the consent of internet users before downloading their personal data under tough new EU guidelines on privacy, it has been revealed.

The draft paper, due to be unveiled today, signals a crackdown on firms like Facebook and Google who are increasingly using private information to sell targeted advertising to users.

The way in which the personal data of individuals is used has come under scrutiny in the wake of the recent scandal involving Google in which householders’ personal emails and passwords were grabbed by its StreetView cars.

Yesterday Google escaped censure by the Information Commissioner Office over the breach, sparking fury form privacy campaigners

Today’s European Commission strategy on data protection calls on web firms to make it possible for private information to be deleted for good from the web.

The strategy, which was seen by EurActiv.com, says people ‘should be able to give their informed consent to the processing of their personal data’ when they go online.

They should also be able to permanently delete photos and other information on social networking sites. The strategy is to lead next year to an overhaul of the EU's 15-year old data protection legislation.

The report reads: Ways of collecting personal data have become increasingly elaborated and less easily detectable. For example the use of sophisticated tools allows economic operators to better target individuals thanks to the monitoring of their behaviour.

The report reads: ‘It is […] essential that individuals are well and clearly informed, in a transparent way, by data controllers about how and by whom their data are collected and processed, for what reasons [and] for how long.’

Citizens should be kept informed of ‘what their rights are if they want to access, rectify or delete their data,’ according to the paper.

'The protection of personal data is a fundamental right,' Viviane Reding, the EU's justice commissioner, said in a statement.



'To guarantee this right, we need clear and consistent data protection rules. We also need to bring our laws up to date with the challenges raised by new technologies and globalisation.'

Privacy campaigners welcomed the report.



Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said: 'Internet sites have played fast and loose for far too long with their customers information. Companies like Facebook still believe they own our information. They don’t.



'It’s too often the case that vast revenue is made from the information we share with out friends while we are thrown a few crumbs of privacy protection. These protections should have come about years ago.



'The companies will now have to do the right thing and respect the laws of Europe. The changes will hurt, but in the long run they will ensure that trust is embedded throughout the Internet.

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Concerns were raised this week when it emerged that information on Facebook profiles that are pulled offline are not deleted immediately.



'Some social networking sites have complied with stricter privacy rules, but with Facebook there have been some problems,' a Commission official told the site.



Targeted advertising that uses an individual's browsing history to send them adverts they think would be of interest is also highlighted in the report.

'The proliferation of actors involved […] and the technological complexity of the practice makes it difficult for an individual to know and understand if personal data is collected, by whom and for what purpose,' it reads.

Such advertising uses ‘cookies’ that monitor your browsing data and many industry figures believe this aspect has already been dealt with under the EU’s ePrivacy Directive last year.

Google and its rivals have argued that Internet companies can regulate themselves, for instance by allowing users to 'opt out' of having their information stored. They also say that they never link an individual's data to his name or address.



Alex Deane, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, said: 'The Commission is going in the right direction, but it’s humiliating that we have to rely on the EU for this regulation.



'The UK Information Commissioner must take a tougher line against companies like Facebook and Google who infringe our privacy online.



'At the moment, the Commissioner is an apologist for the worst offenders in his sphere of responsibility, not a policeman of them.'