European Union: Reached Council and Parliament agreement on Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising including data protection regulation

On 6 November 2023, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, including data protection regulations. The Regulation outlines transparency obligations concerning political advertising, including advertising displayed on online platforms, mobile applications, websites, games and other digital interfaces. In particular, the Regulation would prohibit providers of political advertising services from targeting and using amplification techniques involving the processing of sensitive personal data, such as data on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or political opinions. Furthermore, under the reached agreement, the use of minors’s data would be prohibited, and the providers would have to obtain explicit consent for the use of personal data for political advertising. The providers and data controllers will be required to indicate that each advertisement is political in nature, that it was targeted to a specific audience along a series of parameters, and the categories and sources of the personal data used for targeting and amplifying. Finally, the data controllers will be required to ensure that the right to withdraw consent and object to the treatment of data are properly communicated, alongside a link to an interface allowing the subject to exercise this right. The Parliament and the Council have to adopt the Regulation, and it will be applicable 18 months after its entry into force.