You go online. An advertisement appears for the exact coffee machine you looked up last week. Is it a trick? Or a sign that life is short, and you should buy the coffee machine? Nope, none of the above.

When you are online, your personal information, like your gender, age, location, and information derived from your browsing history (yes, the naughty stuff, but also health queries and voting preferences), is collected and broadcast to tens of thousands of companies in the online advertising industry.

Based on your data, companies size you up and decide in milliseconds if you’re a potential customer. If you are, they bid for the right to show you an ad. For coffee machines – or whatever else they believe would interest you.

This is not right. And it is not legal. You have the right to feel safe when looking up medical information, choosing a school for your child, or seeking support to come out to your family without this being broadcast to strangers.

There are two big players behind this online advertising method: Google and IAB Europe. Sign the petition and tell them to stop sharing your personal information.

Your privacy is yours to keep. Your data is your business.

For more information on the petition, please click here.