The federal government wants to regulate cookie banners on the Internet. Consent management services are intended to allow users to permanently agree to and manage the use of cookies. However, the plan raises questions because the relevant regulation has problems at every turn.
Cookie banners appear almost every time you visit a website. Users are confronted with the question of whether they want to agree to text files being stored on their device. These so-called cookies contain personal data that website operators can use for advertising purposes.
The problem: Many providers use cookie banners that are intended to persuade as many users as possible to consent. These are often designed to be misleading, prevent further searching or contain insufficient information about data processing.
For example, there is not always the option to reject cookies on the first page. Because sometimes you have to click or scroll through to find the option. For years there has been discussion about how website operators can process data in a legally compliant manner while at the same time ensuring consumer rights.
Cookie banner: Federal government wants to improve the Internet
The federal government has therefore set itself the goal of reducing cookie banners in order to improve the user experience on the Internet. This comes from a new one Regulation of the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV), which the federal government decided on September 4, 2024. However, the Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to agree.
According to the draft, so-called consent management services are intended to represent a user-friendly alternative. Users should be able to permanently agree to the use of cookies and manage them. The plan: Business should develop appropriate services for consent management – for example in the form of browser plug-ins.
These should be able to remember the cookie settings for individual websites and communicate them to the operators if necessary. The user interface of such consent management services should be transparent and understandable in order to be able to understand settings.
In addition, users should be able to freely choose the services. To ensure all of this, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner should examine and approve the services. But the plan raises questions as the new regulation appears pointless.
Cookie regulations are a problem at every turn
The biggest problem: Website operators do not have to accept user decisions made through consent management services. The regulation (§ 19 EinwV-E) stipulates that you can ask for consent again at any time if users do not want to give consent by default.
Specifically, this means: If you don’t want providers to continue tracking your data in order to use it for advertising purposes, you will probably continue to receive annoying cookie banners. This not only lacks an incentive for users to use consent management services, but also for the economy to develop them at all.
The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv) demands in one opinion Therefore, the regulation must regulate that website operators must follow users’ decisions – especially if they do not consent. In this case, providers should refrain from further inquiries for a certain period of time, for example six months.
Cookie banner: loophole for website operators
Furthermore, it is unclear who should have an interest in developing consent management services. The regulation stipulates that such services may be offered for a fee. But if website operators do not necessarily have to follow users’ decisions, the willingness to pay is likely to be low.
The regulation also leaves a loophole (Section 20 EinwV-E) that would allow website operators to refuse consent management services. You would have to give an “objective reason” for this, but it doesn’t get any more specific than that. For example, providers could argue that they do not use certain technologies.
In order to ensure that users can truly freely choose consent management services, the regulation would have to guarantee that website operators are generally not allowed to exclude the services.
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The post Federal government wants to curb cookie banners – with useless regulations by Fabian Peters appeared first on BASIC thinking. Follow us too Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As a Tech Industry expert, I believe that the Federal government’s desire to curb cookie banners through regulations may be well-intentioned, but ultimately misguided.
Cookie banners are a necessary tool for ensuring transparency and user consent when it comes to data collection and tracking online. By regulating these banners, the government risks undermining the ability of businesses to communicate with their users and comply with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA.
Instead of focusing on regulating cookie banners, the government should work with industry stakeholders to develop clearer guidelines and best practices for obtaining consent and protecting user privacy. This collaborative approach would be more effective in achieving the goal of empowering users to control their online data while also supporting innovation and growth in the tech industry.
Overall, I believe that regulating cookie banners through unnecessary and burdensome regulations is not the solution. Collaboration, education, and industry-led best practices are the key to achieving a balance between privacy protection and technological advancement in the digital age.
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