The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the UK has reportedly been making strides in its battle against sites that track and profile users’ activities for ad targeting without their consent. However, some changes have prompted sites to opt for a contentious type of paywall, essentially forcing users to either pay a fee for access or consent to be tracked and profiled for ad targeting. This method is commonly referred to as “pay or consent.”
The ICO has refrained from revealing which sites have transitioned to this model after scrutinizing their tracking cookies. However, it has not held back from calling out companies that have violated cookie regulations.
Recently, the ICO took a firm stand against Bonne Terre, the parent company of Sky Betting and Gaming, for unauthorized processing of individuals’ information without their permission. The ICO’s focus on a gambling company can be attributed to the potential hazards that data-driven tracking can pose to vulnerable people with addiction issues.
It has been revealed that Sky Betting and Gaming was sharing users’ personal information with ad tech companies the moment they accessed the SkyBet website, without offering them the choice to accept or refuse such cookies. This resulted in their personal information being used for targeted ads without their knowledge or consent.
The ICO chose to issue a reprimand rather than a sanction in this case, considering it an appropriate use of its powers. This decision was influenced by Bonne Terre’s positive engagement with the ICO and their efforts to improve compliance.
This reprimand is part of the ICO’s broader initiative to tackle non-consensual cookie tracking. A review by the ICO of the UK’s top 100 websites revealed that over half of them had issues with how they were using ad cookies. The ICO then issued warnings to these websites, urging them to revise their ad cookie deployment to comply with data protection laws.
Stephen Bonner, the ICO’s deputy commissioner, stated that the initiative has prompted most of these websites to either offer a significant choice over ad cookies or make changes to obtain users’ consent. However, he did not provide specific metrics to express the ICO’s actual impact on consent choices for UK web users.
The ICO is currently reviewing the legality of the “consent or pay” business model, which has been increasingly adopted by tech giant Meta and several UK news websites. The ICO has expressed its expectation for Meta to consider any data protection concerns prior to introducing a subscription service for its UK users.
While the ICO has yet to adopt a transparent public position on this matter, the rise of “consent or pay” models is becoming increasingly apparent. However, it continues to emphasize the need for companies to offer users a meaningful choice about how their data is utilized and shared on their websites.
