The most important new proposal, however, is that sites, newspapers and social media they will have to offer, in addition to the paid version and the one with active advertising profiling, a third way that includes less invasive advertising. For the Commission, due to the many websites that the average user visits, asking him to pay for each page cannot be considered a valid alternative to profiling through cookies.
At these points European Privacy Board (EDPB) which he proposed to state in the letter addressed to the Commission as an alternative to using contextual advertising. The contextual advertising it is a form of advertising linked to the context in which it is used. For example, it consists of showing ads for sports articles to those who read content about sports. This is an intermediate level between targeted advertising (typical of social media) and general advertising (typical of television or newspapers). In contrast to traditional media, it can be associated with advertising found in fashion or furniture magazines, which targets a defined audience but does not have data available. Online, it is also used by search engines to provide advertising related to the subject of a user’s search. The difference is that this system does not create an invasive user profile such as targeted advertising.
More clarity and less effort when managing cookies
The Commission questions the method give the user the option to opt out of each individual cookiebelieve that yes false transparency which in turn forces the user to always click the “accept all” or “reject all” buttons. This should only be possible in the second level of information, for those who are truly interested in such a degree of depth.
To avoid cookie fatiguefurther, the same banner cannot be presented more than once a year (as already required by the Digital Markets Act) and it will be legal to use third-party apps that allow you to give instructions yourself data processing preferences (including browsers).
This intervention is all the more necessary given that the EU ePrivacy Regulation, originally planned to update the Cookie Regulation, is unlikely to ever be passed, given the impossibility of reaching an agreement due to the multiple interests at stake. Although this new proposal, based on a voluntary approach, appears to be a temporary measure rather than a permanent solution. Meanwhile, the result is this each EU member state follows its own pathjust like everyone Office for Personal Data Protection it has its own guidelines which, although similar, are not the same in all 27 countries. And that adds to fragmentation and confusion for users and companies.
The next steps of the Commission’s project are expected to continue comparison with companiestaking into account I proposals from guarantors of personal data protection considering the next version in January and the presentation final text at the Consumer Summit in April 2024.