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May 11, 2020 | less than a minute read

Cookie walls invalidate consent, says EDPB

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Guillaume Couneson

TMT Partner, Brussels

Get in touch

Guillaume Couneson

TMT Partner, Brussels

The EDPB has taken a strong position on another common feature of the Internet, namely 'cookie walls', which are mechanisms to prevent a user from accessing the content of a website unless he/she accepts the placement of cookies on his/her machine.

This effectively means that users are not deemed free to consent when the information they want to access is made available in exchange for enabling their online tracking. The EDPB's position raises broader questions as to the validity of similar mechanisms, such as paywalls and data walls (where certain personal data such as an email address is requested in exchange for access to a website).

A website provider puts into place a script (...) there is no possibility to access the content without clicking on the “Accept cookies” button. (...) This does not constitute valid consent, as the provision of the service relies on the data subject clicking the “Accept cookies” button. It is not presented with a genuine choice.

edpb.europa.eu/...