The European Union’s privacy overseer has lent its support for additional rules on political advertising crafted to strengthen the 27-member states’ democratic process, according to a press release.
The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has endorsed proposed legislation that would require providers of political advertising and related services to be more transparent in their use of online voter targeting techniques. The measure is designed to promote free and fair elections in the EU, the release stated.
“Political communication is essential … to fully participate in democratic life,” said EDPS Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski in the release. “To preserve our democracy, we also need strong rules to combat disinformation, voter manipulation and interferences with our elections.”
In November, the EU introduced a set of rules designed to preserve the integrity of European elections, according to a separate press release. The objective was to support the functioning for a single market for political ads and to promote high standards of transparency in political campaigns.
The EDPS also recommended that the proposed regulation ban on microtargeting for political purposes, the January release stated. That’s when individuals or groups are targeted with political messages based on some of their perceived preferences garnered from their online behavior.
In addition, the agency noted that further restrictions should be implemented on the kinds of personal data that may or may not be processed for political advertising, according to the release.
Last month, the EDPS said it identified how data collected during card payment transactions can be used to profile customers and, if not handled adequately, can increase the risks of cyberattacks.
Read more: European Data Protection Supervisor Urges Increased Data Protection in Card Payments
The report acknowledged that different players in the card payment ecosystem need to process different personal data based on the purposes they desire. But the panel suggested that other actors do not have to, and data subjects may face risks of misuse of personal data.
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