Hildebrandt speaks in CPDP 2023 closing panel on online behavioural advertising (26 May 2023)

Prof. Mireille Hildebrandt will speak on 26 May at 17:15 (Grande Halle) in the CPDP 2023 closing panel alongside Nemitz (EC), Blocher (noyb), and Wiewiórowski (EDPS) on the topic of online behavioural advertising.

The panel entitled “The end of online behavioural advertising” is organised by the eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University and will be moderated by Lex Zard (LU) and will discuss:

Online behavioral advertising (OBA) is the main revenue stream of ad-based internet. It is claimed to be the root of many online harms (e.g., privacy, autonomy, consumer and social welfare, democracy, and human rights). While GDPR regulates OBA, some scholars claim that OBA’s harms escape its grasp. Nevertheless, recent developments in enforcing the GDPR reveal that it is challenging for the industry to continue the practice. For example, in one case, CJEU considers the legitimacy of the consent framework that operationalizes OBA’s programmatic auction; in another, it considers the legitimacy of personalizing advertisements as a contractual necessity. In addition, consumer protection authorities increasingly apply UCDP to practices that operationalize OBA. Lastly, DSA prohibited using OBA to target minors and when relying on special data categories. Nevertheless, as in Case C 184/20, CJEU expanded the pool of such data; the question is to what extent is OBA legitimate in the EU?

  • Online behavioral advertising
  • Safeguarding human dignity
  • Monetisation of online environment
  • Digital constitutionalism in the EU

Find the full panel description here.

Discussion