On May 8, the Upper House of the Dutch Parliament has approved the new cookie rules. A cookie is a small file which is placed on the computer of the user.
Information must be provided and consent must be obtained if cookies are placed for another purpose than:
- perform the communication, or
- necessary to provide a requested service.
This would e.g. be the case if the cookies are place for analytical purposes or marketing purposes (e.g. behavioural advertising).
The rules will also apply for comparable techniques such as when using web beacons and device fingerprinting.
The website should in any event contain full and clear information about the use of cookies. There is still discussion on how to obtain consent (e.g. by using pop-up screens). Browsersettings are currently not considered sufficient to obtain consent, but if a new generation browsers is developed this may become different. On a European level initiatives are undertaken to achieve this.
In due time we will be working on a more detailed newsletter with practical guidelines. It is likely that the supervisory authority will publish guidelines in this respect.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
