Dutch public broadcaster NPO is violating the privacy rights of visitors to its websites by registering and keeping surf and click behaviour without permission.

According to an unpublished report by Dutch privacy watchdog CBP seen by NRC, sites such as uitzendinggemist.nl (missed programmes) and nos.nl (news) immediately start tracking cookies on computers and smartphones and only then ask for permission.

This is against the law, NRC says.

Highest bidder

Websites use tracking cookies to see what a visitor does on internet. The information is sold by advertising companies to the highest bidder. Visitors are then shown adverts that correspond to their internet behaviour.

The CBP report states that information about surf behaviour is sensitive because it can provide an intrusive image of someone’s interests, NRC says.

Reaction

The NPO told NRC in a reaction that it does not pass the information on. It merely wants to know what sort of people visit its more than a hundred websites.

‘Visitors are clearly informed about the cookies that are used,’ an NPO spokesman told the paper. ‘In addition, the NPO can in no way identify the individual visitors.’