Re: Proposed Text for Local Law and Public Purpose

David,

I am struggling to understand why MRC should be relevant in Europe? (I am a bit lost in this debate – it seems to me that MRC certifies products to conduct measurement - in the US). If companies operate in Europe, they need to comply with our strict laws.

Audience measurement in Europe is to my knowledge conducted via anonymous data. Safe Harbor wouldn't apply to such data. If audience data is transferred to outside the EEA (and adequate countries), then there is no issue (with anonymous data sets). If personal data is collected, then you could benefit of the Safe Harbor regime as a US based company. Not sure that has anything to do with MRC (being only a certification body, if I understand correctly).

Kind regards,
Kimon

From: David Wainberg <david@networkadvertising.org<mailto:david@networkadvertising.org>>
Date: Wednesday 24 October 2012 17:15
To: Walter van Holst <walter.van.holst@xs4all.nl<mailto:walter.van.holst@xs4all.nl>>, "public-tracking@w3.org<mailto:public-tracking@w3.org>" <public-tracking@w3.org<mailto:public-tracking@w3.org>>
Subject: Re: Proposed Text for Local Law and Public Purpose
Resent-From: <public-tracking@w3.org<mailto:public-tracking@w3.org>>
Resent-Date: Wednesday 24 October 2012 17:15

Is this the view of other Europeans participating in this working group?

On 10/24/12 10:39 AM, Walter van Holst wrote:
Actually, from a EU perspective this standard as a whole is unnecessary
because most business practices, at least the one that are publicly
known, in this field are in violation of EU-law already.
So why do we keep talking about it in terms of EU law? Why do we
continue to have proposals aimed at suiting EU requirements?
Well, I am going to be offensive again and maybe even patronising, but
the US legal context for privacy discussions is not quite up to par with
the rest of the industrialised world. For all its defects, the European
legal framework embodies a coherent framework of concepts on this
subject matter. Which sadly the USA does not have. So, apart from my own
geographical bias by virtue of being Dutch, other than in terms of
consent it is difficult to discuss this in outside the terms of EU law.
Not to mention that similar frameworks have been adopted by Canada,
Australia, South-Africa, Japan, Korea and Brazil as well as that India
is in the process of moving in a similar direction.

   I will be
happy if we can once and for all determine that this
Having a
mechanism for consent in the form of DNT is much more significant in the
US context than in the EU context. The fact that various EU parties are
sitting at the table in this process is in itself a sign that the lack
of appetite by the US to import EU concepts (unlike most other
democracies on the planet) has been noticed in the EU.
Are you saying that EU participation in this forum is precisely for the
purpose of trying to impose EU concepts on US companies?
No, it is an acknowledgement that EU law is not applicable in the USA
and that merely leaning back basking in an ill-conceived dream of
EU-superiority in this regard is not going to be helpful at all if large
parts of the relevant industries are (for now) out of scope of EU law.
Therefore it is still useful to participate in a self-regulatory
approach, despite it being unnecessary in the EU-context.

But to my previous question, if the EU can impose these concepts
extra-territorially through regulation then why try to do it through
this DNT process?
Well, why get to what you want by asking nicely if you can do it by
holding a gun to someone's head? The former is rather more constructive,
one would think.

Regards,

   Walter