On 1st October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union
("CJEU") decided that a pre-checked box which users must
deselect to refuse the storage and access to cookies on their
terminal equipment is not a valid consent. Storing and accessing
cookies therefore requires the Internet user's active
consent.
In this case C-673/17 (Planet49 GmbH v. Bundesverband der
Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände –
Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband e.V), the CJEU confirmed Advocate
General Szpunar's Opinion issued on the 21st March 2019.
The Court also confirmed that the information to be provided to
users must include the information whether or not third parties may
have access to cookies as well as the duration of operation of such
cookies.
