On 3 February, the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party
published its 'Cookie Sweep Combined Analysis –
Report'. The sweep was undertaken by the WP29 in partnership
with eight of the European data protection regulators, including
the UK's ICO, France's CNIL and Spain's AEPD, in order
to assess the current steps taken by website operators to ensure
compliance with Article 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC, as amended by
2009/136/EC. The
Report details the results of their assessment of the extent of
the use of cookies, the level of information provided, and a review
of control mechanisms in place.
The Report examines 250 websites which were selected as among
the most frequently visited by individuals within each member state
taking part in the sweep. Media, e-commerce and the public sector
were chosen as target sectors, which were those considered by the
WP29 to present the 'greatest data protection and privacy risks
to EU citizens'.
