Most of the advantages of online advertising for companies, they are determined by the existence of cookies . These small files that are downloaded to users’ computers when they browse the Internet are what make it possible for ads on the Internet to be targeted at people that they have interests linked to a specific product or service, or that companies can offer special offers to those Internet users who have visited their website but finally did not complete the purchase.
The parliamentarians of the European Parliament have been trying to regulate in a more strict way the way in which the websites obtain personal information from their users and for this they are developing a complete legislation that aims to protect privacy of European citizens on the Internet. As a result of these efforts to give people the opportunity to more effectively control what information about them circulates on the Internet, in 2009 a directive on personal data and privacy on the Internet was approved that EU member countries should adopt within two years.
Inside the directive 2009/136 / EC O you can find an article that refers directly to the use of cookies on European websites . According to the text, the use of this technology is not prohibited, but each web page must inform the user of what type of cookies will be installed on their computer and have their consent to do so.
The problem of this directive for many European companies derives precisely from its uneven application in the different member countries of the European Union. Although on paper the rule should be mandatory since 2011 throughout Europe, the truth is that only some of the countries belonging to the Union have approved legislation in this regard and only the United Kingdom requires companies with an Internet presence to actually have the approval of users for the use of cookies on their websites.
In other countries, such as Spain, the directive finally came into force in May 2012 when the sanctioning regime not having been modified . This rule does not really affect the operation of online businesses, so at the moment none of the large Internet companies in our country have made any adaptation of their procedures regarding cookies.
