Internet users must actively choose to allow companies to install cookies used to track online browsing behaviour, according to a new ruling from the European Court of Justice cited by Reuters. The judgment was handed down after the German Federation of Consumer Organisations challenged online lottery company Planet49, which had a pre-ticked checkbox to allow the placing of cookies. In 2017, a German court subsequently requested the ECJ’s guidance on the scope of consent under the bloc’s data protection rules.
“A box checked by default is therefore insufficient,” said the ECJ in a press release, adding that cookie consent must be specific and explicit and that clicking a button to participate in a game or browsing a website, and thus allowing cookies, was insufficient. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter still have implicit cookie consent and the report suggests the ruling could significantly affect ongoing negotiations on the ePrivacy regulation.
