An Austrian court recently ruled that a media company must have a reject button on its website that is visually similar to the button to accept all cookies. Moreover, this decline button must be located in the first layer of the cookie banner.
The media company's website only had an option to accept all cookies and a link to go to the settings. The Austrian privacy regulator Datenschutz Behörde (DSB) found that a decline button should be placed in the first layer of the cookie banner. The media company explained to DSB that the website provides access to online newspaper articles. Data processing would be for journalistic purposes.
However, the judge ruled that the company's activities do not serve journalistic purposes. Setting cookies and processing data is done for analysis, marketing and advertising. The judge also stated that the DSB's explanation was correct. Accepting and refusing cookies should be equally simple.
Click here for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure notice.
