Welcome to the UKGI weekly regulation update service for Aviva ABC brokers

Link(s):

ICO opens door to privacy-first advertising models with proposed new enforcement approach | ICO ICO call for views on our approach to regulating online advertising | ICO Our approach to regulating online advertising – Call for views – Information Commissioner’s Office – Citizen Space

Context

The ICO is calling for views on a new enforcement approach that could unlock privacy-preserving alternatives to the dominant ad-tech business model.  The proposals – set out in a call for views on how the ICO applies the consent requirements of regulation 6 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) – aim to support innovation by enabling new advertising models that respect user privacy while maintaining revenue streams.

Key points to note and next actions

• The ICO is exploring how publishers could deliver privacy-preserving advertising to users who have not given consent, where the risks are demonstrably low. The regulator will continue to enforce consent requirements for the collection of personal information for targeted advertising.
• Regulation 6 or the PECR states that a firm must not store information, or gain access to information stored, in the terminal equipment of a subscriber or user, subject to the Exclusions set out in Schedule A1 of PECR.  Unless an exception applies, if a firm uses any storage and access technologies, it must:
• tell the subscriber or user what the technologies are;
• explain what they do; and
• obtain prior consent for their use.
• The ICO sees this as an opportunity for new, commercially-viable advertising models that can support innovations to improve consumer privacy.
• The ICO is exploring whether a risk-based approach to enforcing PECR could allow publishers to deliver online advertising to users who have not granted consent, where there is a low risk to their privacy.
• The ICO is clear, though, that there will remain circumstances where online advertising will always require consent (for example, where it involves extensive profiling of people based on their online activity, habits and behaviour, potentially across different services and devices).
• The survey is split into four sections:
  • Section 1: Advertising purposes and capabilities
  • Section 2: Impacts of the approach
  • Section 3: Technical safeguards
  • Section 4: About you and your organisation

Firms can respond to this call for views using Citizen Space and share their thoughts before the consultation deadline of 29^th August 2025.