North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Office Sues Google, Calls Cookies A Violation Of Data Protection Rules

JAKARTA - The German consumer office has filed a legal complaint against Google over its use of cookie banners, which they say are designed in a way that violates data protection rules.

According to the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer office, refusing cookies, which collect data about users for targeted advertising, requires more steps than agreeing to them on the Google search engine website and is a violation of European and national laws.

A Google spokesperson said that they will soon be making changes to the consent banner and cookie practices across Europe, including Germany, to comply with regulatory guidelines.

Cookie-based advertising itself has been Google's mainstay in making profits from advertisers. However, many countries have seen this model of advertising as breaking the boundaries of user privacy.