Much ado about cookies: the European debate on the new provisions of the ePrivacy Directive regarding cookies

The fear of losing the privacy of internet users' personal data and of unfair data processing practices may lead to internet users staying off the internet and, therefore, not participating in online transactions. The European Commission wants to encourage internet users to conclude more online cross-border transactions that would strengthen the internal market. As a result, new provisions of the ePrivacy Directive regarding cookies aim to ensure the right to online privacy and to protect internet users from unfair data processing practices. Whether these goals will be reached depends on the character of the adopted provisions, i.e., whether they actually ensure the right to online privacy of internet users. Furthermore, proper and uniform implementation of these provisions by the Member States is needed in order to improve internet users' confidence that they receive the same level of protection of their right to online privacy across borders. This paper assesses the feasibility of these provisions contributing to the increased confidence of internet users in concluding online transactions, taking into account the implementation measures adopted by two Member States, the Netherlands and the UK, as well as consumer behaviour research findings.