Overview

Internet cookies have been in the spotlight for quite some time in terms of EU data privacy law. When the European Parliament was formally asked to consider the original draft of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive by the European Commission in August 2000, nobody envisaged the extent to which the requirements would apply to cookies, one of the most frequently used tools on the web. However, when in October 2001, the European Parliament issued a substantially revised version of the draft directive incorporating a prior consent requirement for the use of cookies, it became clear that this was a sensitive and controversial issue. The move also represented a departure from the technology-neutral approach of the original Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC).

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