BRUSSELS, April 15 (UPI) -- The European Commission says Britain must toughen its Internet privacy laws to avoid a court battle over privacy with EU regulators.
EU officials are threatening to sue the British government over its decision to allow a U.S. company to monitor the activities of Web surfers in an effort to target advertising at them, the EU Observer reported Wednesday.
EU information commissioner Vivianne Reding says Britain's move to allow the company Phorm to partner with Internet provider BT to use records of people's online activity to help advertisers target customers more accurately violates EU rules.
"We have been following the Phorm case for some time and have concluded that there are problems in the way the U.K. has implemented parts of EU rules on the confidentiality of communications," Reding told the Observer.
The publication said the commission has given British authorities two months to respond to criticism of Phorm's Web surveillance technology or face legal action at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
