During the ongoing proceedings regarding the cookie banners before the Berlin Regional Court, Google Ireland Ltd has issued a cease and desist declaration

Cookie banner: Consent too extensive

They are the first thing users see when they visit a website: cookie banners. They provide information about the processing of personal information and obtain consent for this. However, adjusting or rejecting these settings is often difficult. This was also the case with the Internet giant Google. With so-called dark patterns, consumers should be persuaded to give as much consent as possible to the processing of their data. The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center has taken legal action against the design of the banners on the German websites of Google's search engine. The company has now issued a cease and desist declaration.

Now you have full freedom of choice over your own data

“Millions of consumers who use Google’s search engine every day can now more easily opt out of comprehensive disclosure of their data through online tracking. With Google's revised cookie banners, cookies can be rejected as easily as accepted. The pressure on the Internet giant has paid off.”

Wolfgang Schuldzinski, board member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center

While the proceedings were still being heard at the Berlin Regional Court, Google issued a cease-and-desist declaration and adjusted its cookie banners. The proceedings were then discontinued.

Data collection using manipulative tricks

The cookie banners on Google's search engine websites were designed in such a way that refusing the processing of cookies was significantly more complicated than granting comprehensive consent. Visitors only had to click once to agree to the cookies, whereas to reject them they first had to go to a second level of the banner. At least three different categories of cookies then had to be rejected individually before Google adopted these settings and the users could return to the homepage.

Are consent management tools coming soon?

A great hope for further clearing up the cookie banner jungle in general currently lies in services for central consent management. With these tools, which could be installed directly in the browser, consumers would then only have to specify their cookie preferences once [for the individual responsible website operator]* in their browser instead of on each individual website visit. The federal government is currently working on a corresponding legal regulation.

Further information and links:

Source:

Consumer advice center NRW
Already read? Sometimes things happen without us knowing why. Why do I post or like something on Facebook without realizing it?


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )