It is easy to expose users' secret web habits, say researchers
<i>”What these companies are doing is illegal in Europe but they do not care,&quot; said Ms Eckert, adding that the research had kicked off a debate in Germany about how to curb the data gathering habits of the firms.</i><p>I think it’s important to be skeptical towards legislation as a solution to these things. The EU&#x2F;UK cookie law is a cautionary tale, for example. After all that talk we ended up with a law that (effectively) mandates a boilerplate nag screens and no change in behaviour. Even if it had clearer language to distinguish allowable-illegal cookie use, it would still be very difficult to enforce.<p>I don’t mean to say legislation has no part to play. Just saying that the politician outrage to legislation sausage factory has produced some duds in this area. I wouldn’t count on a solution coming from this direction.<p>Speaking of enforcement… Most countries have an advertising standards authority. They create the rules and such. If an ad is (for example) a blatant lie, they can call up the Press&#x2F;TV&#x2F;Radio station and get the ad removed.  Online, it’s not obvious what authority they have, or how they would enforce that authority at all.<p>Where advertising standards are still not broken is regulated industries. If a locally regulated bank advertises “one weird trick to double your savings,” the advertising standards people can go to the regulator. They have a number to call, genuine threats to make. ..enough to promote self policing.<p>Online, even reputable newspapers allow shockingly crappy ads. Sleazy data collection, snake oils, fake products, click farms, scams even fake news (ironically). Real shyster stuff.<p>This is on the visible end of the online advertising stick, the ad content itself. We already have legislation and a custom of rules. Still, enforcement is nonexistent. Dealing with the unseen data collection end of this stick is even harder.