AFP, BRUSSELSOnline companies in the EU can no longer present Internet users with a pre-checked box telling them cookies will be planted on their smartphone or computer if they do not deselect the option, the European Court of Justice ruled yesterday. The ruling means users need to give “active consent” — rather than opt-out of an automatic default that would otherwise plant cookies in their device’s system. The European court was responding to a German court’s request for interpretation of an EU law protecting privacy through electronic communications. The tracking cookies were to gather information on the users for advertising products from Planet49’s commercial partners — a common method by online companies. In yesterday’s ruling, the EU court also ruled that users accepting cookies must be notified of how long those cookies would track them, and whether or not third parties have access to the information they gather.

Source: Taipei Times October 01, 2019 16:07 UTC