EUROPE: Does the use of ad-blocker detectors breach the e-Privacy Directive? Article 5.3 of the Directive permits the storing of information or the gaining of access to information stored in the terminal equipment of a user, where that user has given his or her consent, and has been supplied with clear and comprehensive information. This is sometimes known as the “cookie law”, as it is the same provision which gave rise to the requirement in the EU to provide information about, and obtain at least click through consent to the installing of cookies on a user’s device. As ad-blocker detectors work by storing a script on the user’s device, the Commission clearly believes they fall into the same category. This interpretation is broadly in line with previous guidance from the EU’s Article 29 Working Party, which has indicated that Article 5.3 should be read as covering tracking technologies more broadly, and not just cookies. Parts of another EU Directiv_e _give examples of technologies caught by Article 5.3, including spyware, web bugs and hidden identifiers. If ad-blocker detectors are treated as equivalent to cookies, it may negate their usefulness. If site owners were required to ask for consent to use such detectors, the majority of users with ad-blockers (who are typically amongst the more savvy web users), are likely to refuse to give that consent. This will leave site owners and advertisers with a need to find more creative solutions, or to re-assess why it is that the use of ad-blockers is on the rise, and address the underlying causes. <http://blogs.dlapiper.com/privacymatters/does-the-use-of-ad-blocker-detector...> Alberto <https://t.co/jv2QSePmSc>