Brussels, 03/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - It is time for the European Commission to investigate IP tracking - the tracking of internet addresses for commercial purposes, and a practice of which some tour operators are fond in order to surcharge customers reserving tickets or trips on line - says Marc Tarabella MEP (S&D, Belgium), who is a specialist in consumer protection. On Tuesday 3 September, he addressed two parliamentary questions to the European Council and European Commission (one oral question and one written), and he sent a letter to the Commission. The previous day, the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL), announced that it would conduct an inquiry in France.
“Complaints coming from consumers Europe-wide just keep on coming. Some tour operators rig their rates and rip consumers off online”, said Tarabella, who considers that the practice of IP tracking is “totally scandalous”. IP tracking is a marketing technique that includes the following two ways of operating: (1) a travel agency makes an online offer for a trip or a destination. The internet surfer who consults the announcement initially sees a price of, for example, €100 proposed. When this potential customer returns to the site after searching for better offers with other tour operators, the offer has increased to €120 or even €150. For fear that this rate may increase again, the purchaser decides to buy the ticket quickly, unaware that his had has been forced and that he has been cheated; (2) websites record personal data - favourite places, food, the consumer's purchases and thus determine the consumer's standard of living, which will enable websites to offer higher or lower prices according to the presumed means of the consumer. Knowing that IP tracking affects 300 million potential victims in Europe per year, what does the Commission intend to do to fight this practice? Does it intend to impose penalties on the act of creating a shortage so as to push the consumer to buy impulsively? Does the Commission intend to legislate with a directive or a regulation? Is the idea of a European squad dedicated to this type of tracking one the Commission might entertain? These are all questions that Tarabella asks. “Currently, although it is quite certain that IP tracking most definitely exists and that data on private individuals are stored without them knowing, be it for commercial reasons (marketing, advertising or trade) or for security reasons (banditry, terrorism or any type of fraud), mechanisms still need to be put in place in order to prove the fraud. The money collected through substantial fines could, for example, be redistributed to finance this hunt”, Tarabella says. Inspiration could also be taken from some national legislations that forbid the use of procedures likely to alter consumer behaviour substantially - when the consumer is normally informed and reasonably careful with regard to goods or services, Tarabella says. (AN/transl.fl)