The case, citing the Representative Actions Directive, is being taken by the Irish Council Of Civil Liberties, which claims that Microsoft is flouting European GDPR privacy law through its use of ‘real time bidding’ (RTB) in online advertising, a system that allows advertisers to bid for online ads based on traits and characteristics of the person looking at a web page. "People's intimate secrets such as their relationship, work and financial status are broadcast by Microsoft into the real-time bidding advertising system, which is is a black hole of data open to any malicious actor and represents a huge data breach of millions of people's information,” said Dr Johnny Ryan, director of the ICCL's Enforce unit. In January, the ICCL jointly filed legal action against Google with the US Federal Trade Commission, claiming that the tech giant’s use of ’real time bidding’ compromises national security in the US by exposing sensitive details to China’s security forces.
Author: Adrian Weckler
Published at: 2025-05-25 23:00:00
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