Advertising broker Xandr, a subsidiary of Microsoft, is under scrutiny for its practices in handling personal data of European users for targeted advertising purposes. Despite its claims of providing targeted advertising, Xandr’s data collection and sharing practices have come under fire for their lack of compliance with GDPR regulations.
Xandr operates a Real Time Bidding (RTB) platform that facilitates automated auctions for ad space on websites and mobile apps. This platform relies heavily on collecting and sharing extensive personal data to profile users for targeted advertising. However, recent findings reveal significant discrepancies in the accuracy and privacy of this data.
The company has been accused of indiscriminately sharing user data with multiple advertisers, even when only one advertisement is ultimately displayed to the user. This includes sensitive information such as health details, sexual orientation, and political opinions. Despite promoting targeted advertising, Xandr’s data profiles often contain contradictory or inaccurate information, potentially leading to misleading advertising practices.
Moreover, Xandr has reported a startling 0% compliance rate in responding to GDPR requests for access and erasure of personal data in 2022. This statistic, publicly disclosed by the company itself, underscores its failure to meet basic data protection standards mandated by the GDPR. Individuals seeking to access or delete their personal data have reportedly faced obstacles, with Xandr claiming inability to identify users despite having comprehensive data profiles.
Massimiliano Gelmi, a data protection lawyer at noyb, commented on the situation, stating, “Xandr’s core business model revolves around extensive data collection and targeted advertising. However, their blatant disregard for GDPR compliance, as evidenced by a 0% response rate to data access requests, is alarming and unacceptable.”
The non-compliance issue has prompted noyb to file a formal GDPR complaint against Xandr, highlighting the company’s apparent failure to uphold data privacy rights despite its significant role in digital advertising.
This complaint underscores growing concerns over the ethical and legal implications of data-driven advertising practices and calls for stricter enforcement of data protection regulations to safeguard user privacy in the digital age.
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