Businesses need to ‘wake up’ to new law

Companies that take data from consumers’ computers to help develop targeted online advertising have been told to “wake up” to the implications of soon to be introduced legislation requiring them to gain consent from consumers to collect data.

Computer

The new ruling means marketers must obtain consent from visitors to their sites to store and retrieve data usage information from users’ computers. The technique, described as a ‘cookie’, is used for several reasons, from remembering passwords to analysing consumer browsing habits. Business leaders are concerned that marketers don’t realise how much this will impact on the way they collect data.

Christopher Graham, the UK Information Commissioner, says that businesses need to “wake up” and start thinking about how they will meet the requirements of the new law, which comes into force on 25 May.

Industry bodies are to adopt the DataSeal data security standard developed to raise consumer confidence in marketers’ use of customer data.