Filling out a checkbox in advance to encourage acceptance won't cut it
Websites may not present visitors with a pre-checked box that signals consent to the storage of HTTP cookies on their devices, according to a ruling [PDF] handed down on Tuesday by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The decision follows from the German Federation of Consumer Organizations' challenge of German company Planet49's use of a pre-ticked checkbox to obtain permission to place cookies on the devices of players of its online lottery game.
HTTP cookies are bits of data that get deposited by web servers on the devices of online visitors. They maintain stateful information – keeping data on a user who just visited logged in, for example – because HTTP is a stateless protocol. They're also widely used for ad-related tracking and analytics. And as such, they have implications for privacy and security.
Planet49 operates an online lottery website that in 2013 presented would-be players with an input box to enter a postal code, a name, and an address, with two sets of checkboxes. The first, to signal consent for various commercial offers, was not pre-selected. The second, to signal consent to have ad targeting cookies placed on one's device, was pre-selected.
The German Federation of Consumer Organizations (Bundesverband) complained in 2014 that the lottery website didn't adequately obtain the informed consent of the user under Article 5(3) of Europe's ePrivacy directive, which preceded the more stringent GDPR that took effe ..
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