Today, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) presented the results of an investigation of cookie banners on websites. According to the findings, ten percent of these cookie banners clearly violate the requirements of the German Telemedia Act and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
For this purpose, the German Federal Consumer Associations, the vzbv, Consumer Service Bavaria and the German Association of the Insured (BdV) examined a total of 949 websites from various industries (travel, food delivery services, online stores, dating agencies, insurance companies) in April 2021 to see how the EU-wide data protection requirements were implemented in the cookie banners.
These are further details:
- About ten percent of the 949 websites used clearly illegal cookie banners. On some pages, for example, continuing to surf was already considered as giving consent to all cookies (5.7 percent), on other pages the settings were already preselected (2.6 percent) or other inadmissible features were identified, such as missing cookie banners, although data was being collected (1.6 percent).
- In addition, many of the cookie banners examined were classified as a legal gray area, as the banners appeared permissible at first glance, but attempted to use tricks to steer users' decisions.
Consumers can recognize legally compliant cookie banners by the following characteristics:
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- Listing of all cookies: The ability to read up on which cookies are used and for what purpose they collect data.
- Easy way of rejecting all cookies: All cookies can be rejected on the first page – but at the latest, after the first click. Wording such as ‘only required’ or ‘only necessary’ may also be used for this purpose
- Active consent: The option to actively agree which cookies should be allowed and which not is available. No cookies – except technically necessary ones – are preselected.
- Later deactivation: A hint that cookies can also be deactivated later is available. Ideally, a link is also provided for this purpose.
- Privacy policy: The cookie banner refers to a privacy policy that provides information about what happens to collected data.
Klaus Müller, director of vzbv, commented: "Most cookie banners are a real pain in the neck for consumers. Our sample shows that around ten percent of the banners are also clearly illegal. The consumer centers, consumer associations and the vzbv are therefore joining forces to take legal action against this and to better protect consumers. Illegal cookie banners are no trivial offense. The increasing data snooping endangers the privacy of consumers and leads to the screened citizen."
Source: vzbv
More information and the survey