2023-06-16 10:07:02
The CNIL has published a report on the results of its action plan relating to cookies carried out from 2020 to 2022, the objective of which was to “promote the compliance of professionals with the new rules, while ensuring that they are properly understood. here by Internet users. »
But first, what is a cookie?
To use the words of the CNIL, a cookie is a “small file stored by a server in the terminal (computer, telephone, etc.) of a user and associated with a web domain (i.e. in the majority of case to all the pages of the same website). »
Cookies have various and varied interests. They can be used to save a password during a future visit to the same site, allow targeted to site users, measure the site’s audience to derive statistics, etc.
It is also interesting to distinguish between “internal” cookies, which are cookies deposited by the consultation site itself, and “third-party” cookies which are deposited on different domains and managed by third parties in order to collect information for aimed at the user.
Cookie framework
The framework for cookies is provided for by the E-Privacy Directive and transposed into French law by the Data Protection Act.
For the vast majority of cookies, it is necessary to obtain the consent of individuals. Indeed, these may be very precise tracking tools and for this reason it is necessary to inform users in advance that cookies may be deposited. It is also necessary to leave complete freedom to the user on which cookies he wishes or not to accept, with of course the possibility of accepting or refusing them all.
Some cookies strictly necessary for the operation of the site or which exist to respond to an action by the user do not require consent to be deposited. For example, we can cite cookies for customizing the interface or cookies allowing the content of an online shopping cart to be saved.
Awareness of cookies on the rise
Several questionnaires were offered to samples of 1,000 people each time, between December 2019 and June 2022. The CNIL came up with a number of encouraging findings.
On the one hand, in June 2022, 95% of people questioned said they knew what a cookie is, and 52% considered that they had precise knowledge of recent regulatory developments on the subject, whereas only 44% November 2020.
This increased knowledge of what cookies are is also accompanied by an increase in the refusal of the latter, or at least an increase in their settings! Indeed, in June 2022, 49% of respondents said they set cookies, while only 43% of people did so in November 2020. This increase does not seem significant at first sight, but it should be borne in mind that the regulations and developments concerning cookies are recent.
Above all, rather than testifying to a “fed up” of consent which could explain an increase in the refusal of cookies, here we are talking about a parameterization process, which shows that individuals are really interested in what data they are willing to provide, or not, when using a site.
A reduction in third-party cookies on French sites
The study conducted by the CNIL also shows that the share of French sites depositing more than 6 third-party cookies fell from 24% in January 2021 to 12% in August 2022. And for sites that do not use third-party cookies at all, their share rose from 20% to 29%.
This trend can be explained by several factors.
On the one hand, the work of the CNIL, which sent 94 formal notices between May 2021 and December 2021, resulting in 8 penalties for a cumulative amount of penalties of 421 million euros and this only for penalties relating to Cookies.
On the other hand, the increase in user knowledge of cookies also plays a role. Indeed, it becomes a real selling point to highlight its compliance and respect for the privacy of its users.
However, this must be nuanced. Indeed, there are a large number of sites which still show significant non-compliance, whether through the cookie banner which is not up to standard or the level of information which is not sufficient. And then, practices strongly encouraging consent to cookies have appeared: cookies-wall obviously or even leaving a banner of cookies which does not completely withdraw in the event of refusal and which therefore reduces the display of the site on the page. It is now to be hoped that these practices will be subject to strict supervision in order to continue to keep control over the data that we wish to share or not.
Sources :
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