UK

By Eduardo Ustaran

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched two separate market studies into advertising and pricing. The first, into online targeting of advertising and prices, will cover behavioural advertising and customised pricing, where prices are individually tailored using information collected about a consumer's Internet use. It is expected that this study will be completed by the spring of 2010. The second, into advertising of prices, will consider various pricing practices which may potentially mislead consumers. The study will look in particular, but not exclusively, at how these practices are used online. The OFT is reported to be increasingly concerned about how information about consumers' Web usage is being surreptitiously exploited and the lack of control by consumers over their online personal data.

Eduardo Ustaran is head of the Privacy and Information Law Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, based in London. He is a member of the IAPP Education Advisory Board, co-chair of Knowledge-Net London, editor of Data Protection Law & Policy and co-author of E-Privacy and Online Data Protection. He may be reached at eduardo.ustaran@ffw.com.