Most cookies used in the UK do not consent to European data privacy and GDPR requirements, according to a new study from Aarhus University, MIT and UCL.
Cookies are small files which are kept on a user’s computer which are created when visiting websites. These cookies store data about the customer and can be accessed by the website whenever the user visits it. This enables companies to offer tailored products which meet the customer’s habits.
After scraping the top 10,000 websites in the UK, it found only 11.8% met the minimal requirements set out in law. Its investigation also found that 49% of websites were deploying cookies before they received consent and 28% of sites did not offer any consent method.
Furthermore, it claims the percentage of companies violating the directives stayed the same over the past four years.
The report also investigated how different designs on consent pages impact how much privilege a consumer gives a company.
It found that removing the opt-out button from the first page increases consent by around 22%, while giving granular controls on the first page lowers consent by 8-20%.
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