Already fined, Google offers Europeans a “reject all” button for abusive cookies

Google is preparing a new reject all setting for European consumers, making it easier to reject cookies used to track web browsing habits. The move comes after European authorities have already accused the US company of charging data protection legislation, imposing some fines.

Earlier this year, the French Data Protection Agency (CNIL) announced a € 150 million fine for Google, on the grounds that the US giant had failed to properly enforce European legislation requiring the informed acceptance of cookies used. usually for collecting information about web browsing sessions. Specifically, Google is accused of causing confusion among European consumers by displaying ambiguous dialogue messages, aiming to accept those proposals as soon as possible, with a single click on the button highlighted in front of unwanted choices by the company.

Following the fine received, Google is required to provide at least three equidistant buttons: “reject all”, “accept all” or “more options”. The new menu will appear in connection with both Google Search and YouTube services, even when visitors are not logged in to the user account. As before, the possibility of accepting the displayed proposal with a single click is retained, except that the less advantageous options for Google will be just as visible.

According to the European Center for Digital Rights, under the formula used so far, up to 90% of users clicked on the “Accept All Coockies” button, but only 3% of them really intended to opt for it. Although, unproven, the new variant of the cookie acceptance dialog should prevent the gesture taken almost automatically by most users, the options displayed identically requiring at least a minimum of effort for the “conscious” choice of the desired result.