INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A big change will soon be coming to websites in the EU as Europe's top court has ruled that pre-checked consent boxes for cookies are not
legally valid.Going forward, consent will need to be obtained before a website stores or accesses non-essential cookies such as tracking
first which is typically the case as site owners prefer not to risk having their ability to track users for ad targeting taken away from
them.Currently many websites display a cookie banner which users need to click okay on before they can gain access to a site's content
This practice will no longer be legal in the EU and site owners will likely have a much more difficult time getting European users to opt
into ad tracking cookies.The ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) comes after a German court asked it to make a decision in regard
to a case involving the lottery website Planet49 which required that users first consent to the storage of cookies in order to play a
which a website user must give to the storage of and access to cookies on his or her equipment is not validly constituted by way of a
banners are not valid under EU law
Additionally, cookie consent cannot be bundled with another purpose such as allowing a user to access a site's content or giving them the
ability to play a promotional game as is the case with Planet49.Users must also now be provided with some specific information on what a
cookie tracks for consent to be legally valid
This includes details on how long the cookie will operate and who a user's data will be shared with.The ECJ's ruling is a big win for
internet privacy but it will likely have far reaching implications for European website owners that have abused the tracking ability of
cookies for too long.Via TechCrunch
