14 DAY TRIAL // The European Commission has filed a complaint against the United Kingdom with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failure to properly implement EU directives on privacy and data protection.
The shortcomings in UK's legislation have been identified while investigating BT Group's testing of targeting advertising technology from a company called Phorm.
BT's secret trials involved monitoring user's browsing habits without their knowledge in order to serve them with targeted ads started in 2006 and were uncovered in 2008.
Privacy groups reported the incidents to the European Commission, which wrote to the UK government asking for details about the case.
The UK failed to reply within the given deadline and when it eventually did, the answer did not satisfy the Commission's questions and concerns.
Analyzing on how Phorm's technology, which appears to violate European Union legislation, can function legally in the UK, the Commission discovered gaps in the implementation of certain EU directives in the country.
On April 14, 2009, the Commission officially opened the infringement procedure against the United Kingdom and urged it to make the changes required for its national legislation so that it complies with EU rules.
The new action, of referring the case to the ECJ, is the direct result of the country failing to address the shortcomings of its laws.
"The Commission considers that existing UK law governing the confidentiality of electronic communications is in breach of the UK's obligations under the ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC and the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC in three specific areas:
"There is no independent national authority to supervise the interception of some communications, although the establishment of such authority is required under the ePrivacy and Data Protection Directives, in particular to hear complaints regarding interception of communications
"Current UK law authorises interception of communications not only where the persons concerned have consented to interception but also when the person intercepting the communications has ‘reasonable grounds for believing’ that consent to do so has been given. These UK provisions do not comply with EU rules defining consent as 'freely given, specific and informed indication of a person’s wishes'
"Current UK law prohibiting and providing sanctions in case of unlawful interception are limited to ‘intentional’ interception only, whereas EU law requires Members States to prohibit and to ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception regardless of whether committed intentionally or not," it is explained in an official announcement dated September 30.
The UK Home Office expressed disappointment over the Commission's decision to take the case to court and said that it plans to make the necessary amendments, which it will announce at a later time.