BRUSSELS: Nearly 20 digital rights groups, academics and businesses have urged the European Union (EU) to abolish the ubiquitous cookie banners that ask internet users for consent to track their online activity.
A coalition of 19 organisations and academics made the call in a letter to the European Commission, EU member states and the European Parliament, urging them to end what they described as “annoying and misleading cookie banners”.
Cookies are small files and tracking technologies that monitor users’ online behaviour and can enable companies to deliver personalised advertising.
Reforms to EU data protection rules
The European Commission proposed reforms to EU data protection rules last year, initially including plans to eliminate the need for users to repeatedly respond to cookie consent banners.
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However, EU member states have opposed an article that the coalition said would have enabled people to set their privacy preferences once and “very rarely see another banner”.
“There is no valid justification to drop the commission’s proposal… and to uphold the current cookie banner disaster,” said Ursula Pachl of the European Centre for Digital Rights, known as Noyb.
The proposed reforms will have to be negotiated between the European Parliament and the 27 EU member states before they can become law.
