Cookies and EU Law: History, Future Regulation and Critique

Abstract

Cookies and similar technologies can be used to track the online behaviour of internet users and can pose risks to their privacy and other fundamental rights. The use of cookies and similar technologies is therefore regulated by EU law. The article describes the history of EU law regulating cookies, analyses its current form and application to different technologies, and describes the proposals for the ePrivacy Regulation. Based on the analysis, it provides a critique of both the current law and the proposals and suggests ways forward in the regulation of cookies and similar technologies.