The European Commission wants to end the strict cookie notifications that websites within the EU must comply with. Strict legislation does not seem to have the desired effect. A new “cookie-pledge” initiative from the EC should offer change.
The current strict and mandatory cookie notifications on EU websites do not have the effect expected when introduced. The rules are said to be counterproductive because website visitors close the notifications as quickly as possible and without reading them.
Tackling ‘cookie fatigue’
These mandatory cookie notifications are a consequence of the 2016 GDPR legislation. When websites set cookies to retrieve, store or view personal data, they must seek consent.
Responsible European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders recognizes the fatigue of these constant notifications. He, therefore, wants to address the growing “cookie fatigue” among European website visitors. “According to the law, the use of cookies to process personal data cannot take place without users’ explicit consent. But that does not mean that surfing the net has to be annoying,” the euro commissioner told Welt am Sonntag.
Cookie pleading initiative
More specifically, the European Commission wants to introduce a so-called voluntary “cookie-pledge” initiative in spring 2024. Here, website visitors give their consent to cookies once and are only asked for consent again after a long period of time. This replaces the notifications that pop up when visiting any website or parts of it.
In addition, the euro commissioner also wants to ensure that website visitors can better understand advertising models. “We will address the growing ‘cookie fatigue’ among online users while helping consumers better understand ad models and choose ads that are less intrusive,” Reynders indicated.
Major internet platforms must join
The EC commissioner hopes to launch the initiative this spring. The EC also hopes that large internet platforms will voluntarily sign this initiative. However, they must then indicate more clearly how they track the behaviour of website visitors and how personal data is used for advertising purposes.
Third-party cookies are already an important topic on Google’s 2024 agenda. Tomorrow starts the rollout of the Tracking Protection feature in Chrome, which ensures that third-party cookies are blocked by default. Since ads are a major source of revenue for Google’s parent company Alphabet replacement for these cookies does come.
The replacement technology has already been widely criticized, for example by rival browsers Safari and Mozilla. They see no point in third-party cookies anyway and limit these data collection methods in their own browsers to the benefit of user privacy.
Also read: Google starts phasing out third-party cookies in January
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