During its latest plenary, the EDPB adopted a letter in response to the European Commission regarding the cookie pledge voluntary initiative. The EDPB welcomes the Commission’s initiative, which aims to help protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of users, to empower them to make effective choices, and to increase transparency towards users
The cookie pledge initiative was developed by the European Commission in response to concerns regarding the so-called “cookie fatigue” phenomenon and consists of a voluntary business pledge to simplify the management of cookies and personalised advertising choices by consumers. On 10 October 2023, the European Commission asked the EDPB to consider whether any of the draft pledge principles would be contrary to the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
The draft pledging principles would ensure that users receive concrete information on how their data is processed, as well as on the consequences of accepting different types of cookies. Users would therefore have greater control over the processing of their data. In addition, with the draft principles, consent should not be asked again for a year once it has been refused, this is an important step towards reducing cookie fatigue.
Furthermore, the EDPB flags that adherence to the cookie pledge principles by organisations does not equal compliance with the GDPR or ePrivacy Directive. The data protection authorities remain competent to exercise their powers when necessary.