The European Parliament has approved the Digital Services Act (DSA). Among other things, this law should tackle illegal content and disinformation. It should also increase opportunities for tracking-free ads. A proposal to completely ban targeted ads was rejected.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires illegal content, services and products to be taken offline faster with the help of better cooperation with investigative authorities and fact checkers. Platforms will also have to become much more transparent. Users should be given information about the algorithms that determine their timeline and which party paid for the specific ads.
It also passed an amendment by the Tracking Free Ads Coalition. The group is pushing for tracking-free ads on the Internet. This coalition consists of 19 MEPs who want to regulate the use of personal data for advertising services. Bits of Freedom, Freedom Internet, the European civil rights organization EDRi and twenty-two more organizations support the coalition.
The amendment states, among other things, that the text asking users for permission for targeted ads should be clear. It should explain how users' data will be used. Refusing consent should be as easy as giving it. Users who do not (or no longer) give consent should be given other options for using the website in question, including the option of tracking-free ads.
