Key Sentence:
- The UK Information Commissioner will urge some of the world’s most powerful countries to join forces against pop-up cookies.
- Elizabeth Denham will meet her colleagues from the G7 countries (group of seven) on Tuesday.
Each country will raise technological issues that they believe can be addressed through closer cooperation, with Ms. Denham aimed at the Cookie-Banner.
“Nothing country can solve this problem on its own,” said Ms. Denham.
“That’s why I ask my G7 colleagues to use our power to come together. Together with technology companies and standardization organizations, we can develop a coordinated approach to this challenge.”
Pop-ups with cookies are rejected mainly by internet users and businesses. Who see them as a nuisance barrier – and by data protection officials who believe that so-called “dark patterns” trick people into accepting privacy breaches rather than reading the settings page of every website.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the UK’s national data watchdog – said it would present a “vision for the future.” In it, web browsers or even device-wide settings “allow people to set their preferred privacy settings. Anyway rather than having to do this via pop-ups every time they visit a website.”
This will “ensure that people’s privacy preferences are met while at the same time enhancing the experience,” he said. The ICO considers such an approach “technically feasible and compliant with data protection regulations.” To achieve this, however, a collaboration between different technology companies or standardization organizations will be required.
There is already significant debate about the future of cookie tracking, with Apple limiting. This by default in its software and Google following new standards not available from other software providers. The ICO said it believed the G-7’s total weight “could have a huge impact” in helping major technology companies develop solutions.
Jim Kilok, CEO of the Open Rights Group, said that while he supported the ICO proposal. The vast majority” of cookie banners were already in violation of UK law.
“If an ICO wants to put up a banner with cookies, it has to follow its conclusions and enforce the law,” he said.
“We have been waiting for ICOs to do this for over two years, and now they want the G7 to do the work for them. This is outrageous.” Mrs. Denham is now the outgoing Commissione August; the government announced plans to replace him with New Zealand’s current data protection commissioner. John Edwards – while digital secretary Oliver Dowden launched the introductory shot into the cookie pop-up war.
Secrecy expert Pat Walshe said, “It seems increasingly to me that The government is catching iCOs. The so-called ‘pop-ups with cookies’… are manifestations of a fundamental business model based on the intrusion and erosion of privacy on the Internet. These fundamental models and technologies that undermine confidentiality must be at the center of attention.”