European Union official says time is running out to create effecting online privacy protection

BRUSSELS – A European Union official warns that time's running out to create a system to prevent Internet users from having every click recorded.

Neelie Kroes, EU digital agenda commissioner, plans to warn in a speech Thursday that efforts to create a "do not track" Internet header aren't succeeding.

"Online privacy and online business need to go hand in hand," she'll say, according to her office. "Privacy is a fundamental right ... People won't use what they don't trust. And they will stop using what they learn to distrust. If that happens, online businesses miss out on a huge opportunity of new and bigger markets."

Any privacy system, she said, "must be designed to let people choose to not be tracked."