Germany Takes a Stand on Privacy, Ruling Against LinkedIn for Ignoring ‘Do-Not-Track’ Requests
Germany has once again demonstrated its commitment to protecting citizens’ privacy, as a Berlin court ruled in favor of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband, vzbv) in a lawsuit against LinkedIn. The lawsuit was filed after LinkedIn ignored users who had activated the ‘do-not-track’ function on their browsers, prompting the court to state that companies must respect these settings under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This ruling could have significant implications for how websites and online platforms handle user data more broadly. The Do-Not-Track (DNT) ruling, although a small victory for privacy advocates, could potentially reshape how websites handle our data. Although DNT adoption and support have dwindled in recent years, ad-blocker and VPN service provider AdGuard believes that this court decision could revive the once-abandoned privacy initiative.
The DNT initiative was first proposed in 2009 as a mechanism for limiting web tracking. It gained support from browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari, and Opera. However, the lack of support among websites and advertisers eventually led to its decline. In 2019, the group working on standardizing DNT disbanded due to a lack of consensus, signaling the end of the initiative.
Privacy advocates recognized the need for an alternative mechanism that allowed users to opt out of data sharing. This led to the creation of the Global Privacy Control (GPC) in 2020, which sends a signal over HTTP to opt out of data processing. GPC has gained more traction than DNT, with support from privacy-first browsers and search engines like DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Firefox, as well as browser extensions like Abine’s Blur, Disconnect, OptMeowt, and EFF’s Privacy Badger.
The recent ruling in Germany against LinkedIn marks a significant milestone for the DNT initiative. The court ruled that LinkedIn cannot ignore users’ Do-Not-Track requests, emphasizing that website operators must respect this signal. The court implied that a DNT signal is legally binding, setting a precedent and potentially reviving the idea of Do-Not-Track.
LinkedIn plans to appeal the ruling, claiming that it relates to an outdated version of their platform. However, privacy advocates believe that this ruling could reshape how companies handle user data and give new life to the DNT initiative.
AdGuard, a security software provider, encourages users to enable the ‘Ask websites not to track you’ option when using their services. They support both DNT and GPC and believe that this court decision emphasizes the importance of user privacy. AdGuard’s commitment to user privacy has become even more crucial in light of this pivotal court decision.
Germany’s proactive stance on privacy and its ruling against LinkedIn demonstrate that the country takes privacy protection seriously. This decision could have far-reaching implications for the handling of user data and may revive the once-abandoned DNT initiative. It remains to be seen how other countries and companies will respond to this landmark ruling.
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