Eliꦏzabet💝h Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, has penned a piece on the adtech market, warning against unlawful behavior.

Adtech has becoming an increasingly controversial business model. No longer content to simply offer a💯nd sell goods or services for a fair price, companies have built entire businesses around treating their cust🌳omers as the product, mining every last bit of data about them — whether they like it or not. Some companies are pushing back with privacy-oriented services, such as Apple’s App Tracking Transparency or .

Denham is , calling out the adtech market for unlawful b𝔉ehavior that doesn’t take c🌊onsumer choice and privacy into account.

As organisations continue to evolve their proposals, the Commissioner believes that market participants should develop solutions that are focused on the interests, rights and freedoms of the individ❀ual. These should move away from intrusive tracking technologies that may continue to pose risks and struggle to comply with the꧟ law. 

While Denham acknowledges there are multiple ways to address the issues moving forward, she emphasizes that any path forward must be a departure from🎃 current practices.

Participants should note that continued use of intrusive online tracking practices is not the right way to develop solutions. Anything that essentially results in a💦 continuation of existing practices will not meaningfu✅lly change the status quo. 

Industry must recognise the need for change. It should understand that the Co🐼mmissioner does not advocate for alternatives that use the same fundamentally flawed approaches.

It’s refreshing to see an official take such a strong st🍬ance against an industry that has devolved into near-parasite practices that ignore the privacy and security of its users.