As part of a wider initiative to simplify the rules for digital privacy and make consumers more transparent, the European Union is proceeding on plans to make the barrage of online cookie banners that many Internet users routinely ignore less of a nuisance.
The European Commission has proposed, as part of a Digital Omnibus package, to soon replace the various pop-up requests on individual websites with a single browser-level consent management feature.
The effort is targeted at what policymakers are calling “cookie fatigue,” which occurs when users of cookies are asked to click “accept” or “deny” on privacy notices without giving the matter much consideration.
The European Commission has cited figures saying that approximately 54 per cent of Europeans generally use cookies and roughly 26 per cent do not, without even checking privacy settings, or which companies may be accessing their browsing.
The Digital Omnibus, which includes the proposed changes, would establish a central mechanism for users to provide or deny consent via a machine-readable browser setting per Article 88b. Companies would also be restricted in the number of times they could request users to reconfirm their decisions, and would only be able to do so after six months.
According to the European Commission, the changes would provide a number of benefits, such as the reduction of cookie banners, more transparency for users, and less administrative hassle for businesses and public institutions.
Commission estimates indicate that the savings for businesses throughout Europe could amount to around €820m, as they no longer will need to have their own cookie consent system, and the savings for the public sector are estimated at €320m. The Commission also estimated productivity savings of almost €5 billion a year, since Europeans spend a significant amount of time dealing with consent pop-ups when surfing online.
The move follows months-long EU economic talks led by former Mario Draghi which have focused on how to make the bloc more competitive and better use of digital technology.
Though many have expressed interest in making consent simpler, the proposed system has been criticized by technology organizations, advertisers and digital marketing experts for potentially giving too much power to the big browser companies.
The European Tech Alliance says browser-level consent management could result in the emergence of a new class of digital gatekeepers who manage user consent to online services. The system could also dilute the direct bond between a website and its visitors, and make online advertising more challenging for small- and medium-size businesses, critics say.
Industry groups also claim that the shift could have a negative impact on the effectiveness of personalised advertising, and companies will have to switch over to using more contextual advertising, which is less targeted and more costly.
An alternative has been proposed with a focus on providing a more transparent set of rules for data-processing operations that are permitted under the “legitimate interest” basis that is already found in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
The proposal is likely to continue to be debated, as EU policymakers, regulators and industry organizations explore the potential impact of the new framework on the future of online privacy and digital advertising in the bloc.
