Last day to comply

1 What are cookies?

After publishing strict guidelines in October 2020, last July, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberties (Cnil) announced a series of official notifications on about forty organizations, websites and applications, which Internet users could not easily reject. Deposit cookies.

These small files are stored on your computer’s hard drive at the request of the server of the website you are browsing. In theory everyone can manage and control these cookies. If they allow faster identification of frequently visited sites, and thus better navigation fluidity, they will also be used (Bing, Adwords, etc.) It is because of them that we receive targeted mailings, for example. Others, like Google Analytics, measure audiences.

In addition to the preferences made on the Sites, it is also necessary to configure the privacy and security options for your computer through the Control Panel.

2 Official notifications and heavy fines

If the web giants are cited for their volatility against CNIL’s rulings – Google and Amazon have been sanctioned €100 million and €35 ​​million for their practices – they are not the only ones. Last July, “Le Figaro” was fined €50,000: cookies were automatically placed on computers by the company’s partners, without users’ knowledge or even despite their refusal.

Between 2020 and 2021, CNIL has issued more than 70 formal and sanction notices, indicating that 60% of organizations that do not comply with the legislation have their parent company outside France. Without naming them, the commission defines the main platforms as: “four major platforms for the digital economy, six major manufacturers of computer hardware and software, six online retailers of consumer goods, two major players in online tourism, three car rental companies, three destinations Major players in the banking sector, two large local authorities, two online public services, and an energy player.”

3 Strict controls will begin

The sites are committed to creating a platform to manage the consent of Internet users and of course compliance with the expressed wishes. A prerequisite is to provide Internet users with clear options for accepting, assigning or rejecting cookies. Above all, you should know that from now on the non-response of the user, who closes the dialog window asking for cookies, should be interpreted as a refusal.

As of Monday, September 6, CNIL is launching a campaign that checks, under penalty of heavy penalties, the compliance of cookies on a very simple principle: refusal should be as simple as acceptance.