German data regulators are considering making it illegal for Web companies to provide their visitors' IP addresses to third parties without their users' permission, The Register reports. The Lower Saxony DPA has already moved in that direction, with Data Protection Commissioner Joachim Wahlbrink recommending that users' permission be in place before  IP addresses can be passed on to advertisers. Germany's revised law only allows the use of personal information for marketing "if the individual has expressly consented to such use." The Lower Saxony DPA's order to one online marketer to remove an ad tool feature may result in a lawsuit from the company, the report states.
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