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In the nick of time, the Office for Personal Data Protection issued a draft recommendation on the use of cookies. While this long-awaited opinion of the Office does respond to an increasing number of queries, it also raises certain doubts. What specifically does it say?
According to the draft recommendation, cookies should only be used for personalising advertisements with consent of the data subject. However, the consent need not be expressed on each page of the visited website separately, but rather each user has the option to grant the consent in general by setting her/his own browser, where third-party cookies can be blocked.
Nonetheless, the data subjects must continue to be informed of the purpose and manner of personal data processing, who will process them and to whom the data will be disclosed. The Office notes that this need not be done through the currently common pop-up banner, which is unreasonably bothersome for the user. The Office recommends that a document denoted as “Cookies” be placed in the footer of the website.
It remains a question how this recommendation regarding consent will stand up to the principle enshrined in the GDPR that consent should always be expressed actively. If the recommendation was to conform to that principle, it would be necessary for every browser to have cookies disabled in the basic settings and each user would have to enable the cookies her/himself.
Despite this contradiction, the Office’s opinion can be considered a reasonable approach in a situation where everyone is awaiting the adoption of a new ePrivacy regulation, which should clarify the entire topic – as a matter of fact, this Office indirectly admits this in the conclusion. This opinion is therefore good news for all users of websites using cookies, e.g. for advertising. Simultaneously, in the nick of time, the Office thus (for the time being) avoided a situation which tends to be called the end of on-line advertising as we know it today.
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Jasper Brinkman
Jasper Brinkman
"Following a devastating hotel fire in Prague, the law firm Holubová advokáti, led by attorney Klara Dvorakova, successfully represented our extended family as a group of victims. The firm navigated complex international insurance and compensation laws to defend our rights.
I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts the firm had to make to bring our case to a successful compensation under extremely difficult circumstances."
Stewarts
Stewarts
"A visit to her daughter in London turned Eva's life upside down when she says she stepped into a crossing on a green light but was hit by a car. Despite her remarkable bravery, she faced a long treatment due to fractures in her pelvis, and the associated limitations and pain are likely to persist for the rest of her life. Regular headaches and impaired concentration compound her challenges.
Eva contacted us through an organization temporarily helping her manage her difficult living situation. At that time, she was destitute, relying only on subsistence payments. We were able to assist her because we specialize in personal injury and have contacts with proven colleagues abroad.
We worked with Stewarts, a UK law firm, on this case. Attorneys Klára Dvořáková and Rebecca Huxford helped Eva with the documentation in her case, explaining her options and the differences between the Czech and British systems of healthcare and social benefits reimbursement. Within a few months, thanks to the professional cooperation between the two offices, an offer of compensation from the insurance company of approximately CZK seven million was achieved. The client accepted this settlement because she did not want to deal with courts in the United Kingdom.
Subsequently, we assisted the client with related tax issues and contacted Auditone, a tax consultancy firm, which arranged for the filing of a tax return. Compensation for lost income is taxable, unlike most personal injury compensation.
'No one has done as much for me as you,' Eva said.
The fact that we were able to help Eva gives our work meaning and brings us great joy. We are very happy that, thanks to our many years of active involvement in the international professional organization PEOPIL, we can cooperate on such cases."