The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) wants to make cookie selection banners on the Internet more user-friendly. “Consent to data protection provisions on websites is often unfriendly to consumers – long texts, a lot of small print, complicated browser windows,” said the State Secretary responsible for consumer protection Christian Kastrop of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung . As a result, consumers often annoyed and click “Accept”. “We want to make rejecting cookie settings just as easy as giving consent.”

The permanent state secretary in the Federal Ministry of Justice and honorary professor at the FU Berlin Christian Kastrop wants to simplify the rejection of cookies for users.

(Image: Thomas Imo / BMJV)

Decline should be easier According to agency reports that a spokesman for the ministry confirmed to heise online no new laws are currently planned. Kastrop spoke of manipulation in this context. Even when the query was complicated, consumers often clicked on “Accept”, annoyed, in order to shorten the process. A new law is not planned, the newspaper quoted the State Secretary as saying.

Rather, the ministry is relying on the establishment of a competence center for consumer behavioral research. According to the information, psychologists and economists should work together in it. Corresponding requirements could come from the EU’s privacy directive, which is currently being negotiated, added the spokesman.

Cookies store data on the user’s hard drive when surfing the Internet. If you visit the website at a later date, it will help you recognize the users and their settings. Cookies are used, for example, to present consumers with individual advertising.

(tig)