Cookies are small files that websites can place on your computer, for example to track your internet behavior or to store information about choices you have made. Since 2018, websites in the European Union must request permission to place cookies.

In addition to the option to accept all cookies and rate cookies individually, Google will now place a button to reject all cookies in its consent menu. Currently, only French users will see the new menu, but Google promise that it will soon expand to the rest of the European Union, UK and Switzerland.

Earlier this year, the French privacy watchdog fined Google 150 million euros for making it difficult to reject all cookies at once. Facebook was also fined around 60 million euros.

dark pattern

Since the introduction of cookie consent requirements, the company is doing its best to entice users to give consent. They use, among other things, so-called ‘dark patterns’, menus designed in such a way that people hit ‘agree’ more quickly.

For example, the ‘accept all cookies’ button is brightly colored on many sites, while others are less visible. Other sites, such as Google websites such as YouTube, force you to open all cookies in a separate menu before you can disable them.

The fine by the French National Commission for Information Technology and Freedom (CNIL) is a signal that the European Union is tired of such tricks. “Following our conversation [met Europese privacywaakhonden] and special instructions from CNIL, we have now completely changed our approach to cookies,” Google wrote, noting that the privacy watchdog had issued a “new explanation” on the proper implementation of its cookie policy.