UK privacy watchdog warns Meta over plan to keep denying Brits a choice over its ad tracking

The main topic of the article is the response of the UK's data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), to Meta's announcement that it will offer Europeans the choice to deny tracking for ad targeting but won't be asking UK users for their consent. The key points are:

• The ICO is assessing the impact of Meta's decision on the information rights of people in the UK and considering a response.
• The ICO is not pleased that Meta is not giving UK users the same level of respect for their data rights as users in the EU.
• Meta's decision comes at a time when UK data protection law is still based on the pan-EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• The ICO is now responsible for defending domestic data protection rules without the support of the Court of Justice of the EU.
• Meta's decision is a result of recent CJEU rulings and GDPR enforcement by EU data protection regulators.
• The ICO has failed to act on similar complaints about adtech tracking in the past.
• The ICO has the power to enforce UK law on adtech companies operating in the UK.
• Privacy campaigners are urging the ICO to regulate adtech giants like Meta directly.
• Meta's decision suggests it believes privacy enforcement in the UK is weak enough to ignore.