Websites detecting ad blocker could be breaking EU law

In the battle against ad blocking, many publishers have begun preventing readers from viewing content while they have an ad blocker switched on.

However, a letter purporting to be from the European Commission suggests that these publishers could be breaking European law.

The letter was sent to Alexander Hanff, a privacy campaigner. It confirms that the publishers' mechanism to detect ad blockers requires access to people's personal data. For websites to legally access your personal data, you must have given permission, according to British tech site The Register, 

Here's the letter:

It follows from this that people must give consent before publishers detect whether or not they are using an ad blocker. Most publishers that are using ad-blocker detection software do not appear to be doing this. Therefore, according to Hanff, they are breaking the law.