EU Commissioner Reynders Calls for Better Regulation of Cookie Notifications and Revenue Models on Websites

Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice, wants tech companies to combat the ‘cookie fatigue’ of internet users and better inform users about the revenue models used. For the time being, he advocates a voluntary agreement with non-binding agreements.

Reynders said during an interview with Die Welt that surfing the Internet should not be annoying. However, European internet users must always give explicit consent to cookies that want to collect and process personal data about them. According to the European Commissioner, this practice leads to growing ‘cookie fatigue’. According to Reynders, this can be countered by asking internet users only after a year whether they want to agree to the relevant cookies again.

Reynders wants to include this measure in a voluntary agreement that tech companies enter into with the European Union. This agreement will also state that tech companies must better inform internet users about the use of cookies, the advertising models associated with them and the revenue model of the company behind the website. Internet users should also be able to choose between tracking cookies and privacy-friendly alternatives.

In September 2023, the Dutch outgoing State Secretary Van Huffelen stated that the current method of cookie notifications is unpleasant. According to Van Huffelen, internet users should be able to indicate only once whether they want to accept certain cookies on the internet or not. The State Secretary stated that the government wants to improve this practice, but also referred to European politics for an effective solution.

Cookie notification on NPO Start, January 2, 2020
2024-01-02 10:54:29
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