Websites that detect your ad blocker could be breaking EU law

Just yesterday we wrote about the websites which detect ad blockers. And here is a thing – these publishers could be breaking European law.

In the fight against ad blockers, websites show notifications, offering users to disable the ad blocker to be able to visit pages. However recently the letter from European Commission was published, which stated that the publishers’ tool to detect ad blockers requires access to people’s personal data. And to get your data legally, websites need to ask your permission. Meaning that prior to look for an ad blocker on your device, websites need your consent for this.

Of course most publishers that are using ad-blocker detection software do not appear to ask for user consent. Therefore, according to Hanff (Think Privacy CEO, the one who actually sent a request to EU-Commission about anti-adblockers), they are breaking the law.

Hanff says he will now launch legal challenges against websites using anti-ad blockers without asking permission, because he believes that this is an example of privacy violation.