noyb success: ORF.at must correct misleading cookie banner
Austria's Federal Administrative Court has upheld a 2024 data protection ruling requiring public broadcaster ORF to redesign the cookie banner on ORF.at. The court agreed with privacy group noyb that the current banner illegally nudges users toward accepting tracking by visually emphasizing the 'Accept' button over the 'Reject' option.
Why this matters: This is a small design change with a real principle behind it. When an 'Accept' button is bright and prominent and 'Reject' is dull and tucked away, that is not neutral design. It is a nudge, and it produces consent that was never genuinely given. GDPR requires that refusing tracking be just as easy as agreeing to it. ORF is a public broadcaster, which makes the violation harder to excuse. If this kind of enforcement stuck more often, cookie banners would look very different across the web.
Who should care: Lawyers · Privacy officers · AI governance · Cybersecurity · General readers · Policy
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