On August 19th, the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (LfDI) Baden-Württemberg, Dr. Stefan Brink, announced that from now on Baden-Württemberg will be checking the websites of large media companies with regards to compliant cookie banners.
Now it is official that, in addition to Baden-Württemberg, the following 10 German states are also participating in the process:
- Hamburg
- Brandenburg
- Hesse Lower Saxony
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Bremen
- Rhineland-Palatinate
- Saxony
- Saxony-Anhalt
- Schleswig-Holstein
New standards for cookie banners – inspections underway
In May 2020, the German Federal Court of Justice decided, in accordance with the requirements of the ePrivacy Directive, that before setting the cookies, valid consent must be obtained from visitors to the website before cookies are set.
Visitors must give consent voluntarily and explicitly. Cookie walls that force users to accept cookies to access the website are not permitted.
Further, scrolling a website does not count as explicit consent, nor do boxes ticked in advance.
What are the consequences of non-compliance?
The fines for non-compliance with the processing of personal data with the help of cookies are extensive.
According to the GDPR, fines of €20 million or 4% of the global annual turnover are imposed. Including violations related to the use of cookies.
How can you obtain valid cookie consent on your website?
When informing users about cookies and obtaining and storing valid consents, you should use a certified Consent Management Platform.
With a Consent Solution from Cookie Information solution, you will receive a cookie consent pop-up that:
- Informs your website visitors about cookies (who owns them, their purpose, their lifespan);
- Gives your visitors the option to reject cookies (and tracking);
- Holds back cookies until the consent has been obtained;
- Does not assume consent by ticking the boxes in advance;
- Stores consents for 5 years (in the event of an inspection by the data protection authorities);
- It can be customized with your company logo, colors, and fonts.